University  of  California  •  Berkeley 
Gift  of 

MRS.  GOODWIN  J.  KNIGHT 

^ 


GOOD'S  BUDGET 

BY    GOOD    KNIGHT 


1910 

PRESS  OF   FRYE  &  SMITH 
San  Diego,  California 


TO  MY  FATHER 

At  whose  request  it  was  written,  and  to  please  whom 
I  decided  to  plan  a  longer  story  than  self-confidence 
alone  would  have  prompted  me  to  undertake,  I  ded- 
icate this  little  book,  hoping  that  the  result  of  my 
efforts  will  give  satisfaction  to  him,  and  encourage- 
ment to  other  boys,  in  proportion  to  the  benefit  and 
pleasure  I  have  derived. 

GOOD  KNIGHT. 


PREFACE 

After  writing  the  two  short  stories,  "Bob"  and 
"The  Prize  Fighter",  which  appear  at  the  back  of 
this  book,  the  young  author,  Goodwin  J.  Knight,  was 
encouraged  to  undertake  the  writing  of  a  longer  story 
about  the  Adventures  of  an  American  Boy  in 
the  Orient,  as  the  study  of  these  foreign  coun- 
tries in  connection  with  his  school  work  and  home 
reading,  had  aroused  especial  interest  in  them  at  that 
time.  The  characters  are  fictitious  and  the  story 
imaginary.  It  was  written  during  the  year  1909,  and 
was  finished  on  December  9th,  the  author's  thirteenth 
birthday. 


ADVENTURES  OF  AN 

AMERICAN  BOY 


CHAPTER  I. 

Ned  Winter  lived  in  the  village  of  Coleville,  Idaho. 
He  had  three  sisters  and  one  brother.  He  was  six- 
teen years  old  and  in  second  year  of  High  School, 
and  had  always  longed  to  travel.  His  father,  who 
was  a  hard-working  man,  and  often  found  it  difficult 
to  make  ends  meet,  worked  in  a  large  woolen  mill  in 
a  neighboring  town,  not  much  larger  than  Coleville. 
Their  home  was  not  yet  paid  for.  George  Drake,  the 
village  lawyer,  who,  though  rich,  was  grasping  and 
mercenary,  held  a  mortgage  on  it  for  seven  hundred 
dollars,  and  Mr.  Winter  had  difficulty  in  meeting 
the  monthly  payments.  This  made  Ned  anxious  to 
quit  school  and  go  to  work  to  help  his  father. 

A  few  years  before  this  Mr.  Winter  had  invested 
$2000  in  the  Alaskan  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Com- 
pany, of  which  Mr.  Drake  was  president.  The 
stock  had  slowly  gone  down  to  five  cents  a  share 
and  then  was  taken  off  the  stock  exchange. 


10  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

Finally,  one  day  after  having  been  refused  leave 
to  quit  school  and  go  to  work,  Ned  asked  his  father 
if  he  might  not  take  a  long  trip — perhaps  around  the 
world.  He  was  laughed  at  at  first,  but  finally  he 
said  seriously,  "I  think  I  could  pay  my  own  way  for 
the  whole  trip.  It  sounds  big,  I  know,  but  you 
remember  what  Mr.  Clovis  said  about  the  boy  who 
never  had  a  chance  to  see  the  world."  Mr.  Clovis 
was  the  editor  of  the  " Boise  Times"  and  an  old 
friend  of  Mr.  Winter's.  He  had  once  told  Mr.  Win- 
ter that  the  boy  who  was  always  tied  at  home  would 
not  make  much  of  a  man. 

For  a  whole  week  nothing  was  said  of  the  proposed 
trip,  but  Mr.  Winter  knew  that  Ned  would  not  give 
up  trying  to  go ;  so  he  and  Ned 's  mother  had  many 
long  talks  on  the  subject.  Finally,  it  was  decided 
that,  if  Mr.  Clovis  approved  of  it  and  thought  the 
plan  a  sensible  one,  he  might  go. 

So  next  morning  Ned  boarded  the  train  for  Boise 
to  see  Mr.  Clovis.  He  made  his  way  up  to  the  Times 
office,  got  into  one  of  the  huge  elevators  and  was 
whizzed  up  to  the  fifth  floor.  He  had  to  wait  some 
time  to  see  Mr.  Clovis,  but  finally  he  was  ushered 
into  his  private  office.  After  the  familiar  greetings, 
Ned  explained  his  errand.  "  It  is  a  very  large  under- 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  11 

taking  for  a  boy  of  sixteen  years,"  said  Mr.  Clovis, 
dubiously.  '  *  I  think  I  could  do  it, ' '  said  Ned,  stoutly, 
"and  it  would  reduce  my  father's  expenses,  also." 
"Yes,  I  know;"  said  Mr.  Clovis,  stroking  his  chin 
thoughtfully,  "but  it  is  risky.  What  do  your  father 
and  mother  think?"  "They  think  that  I  might  do 
it  if  you  approve." 

"By  Jove,  Ned,  I  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I  think 
you  can  do  it,  and  if  you  come  back  with  $500  of 
your  own  earnings,  I  will  give  you  a  position  on  this 
paper.  And,"  he  went  on,  "you  might  send  me 
stories  of  your  trip  and  I'll  print  them  and  pay  you 
well  for  them."  "Thank  you,  sir,  I  will  do  my  best. 
I  think  I  will  start  right  away  to  Seattle  and  get  a 
job  on  a  boat  bound  for  Asia,  or  some  island  port." 
"Why  do  you  like  the  water  so  well,  Ned?"  asked 
Mr.  Clovis.  "I  don't  know  exactly — I  always  im- 
agined I  would  like  the  water."  "A  sailor's  life  is 
a  hard  one,"  replied  Ned's  friend.  "I  don't  expect 
to  be  on  the  sea  all  the  time,  because  I  want  to  see 
all  I  can  of  Asia  and  the  Pacific  Islands."  "If  you 
need  any  money  while  on  this  trip,  just  write  to  me 
and  I  will  forward  it  at  once.  Good-bye,  Ned,"  said 
Mr.  Clovis,  extending  his  hand  cordially,  "and  good 
luck  to  you."  "Good-bye,  sir,"  said  Ned,  as  he  left 


12  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

the  office,  not  wishing  to  take  more  of  Mr.  Clovis' 
valuable  time.  As  Ned  walked  out  of  the  building 
he  felt  as  if  he  was  walking  on  air. 

The  next  day  Ned  went  to  the  bank  and  drew  out 
all  of  his  money,  something  like  $80.  At  school  the 
next  day  it  became  rumored  around  that  Ned  Win- 
ter was  going  away.  "Oh,  he  thinks  because  he  is  a 
good  athlete  he  owns  the  school,"  scoffed  George 
Drake,  Jr.  "He  is  stuck  up  because  he  owrns  the 
baseball  game.  He  wears  patches  in  his  pants  and 
is  a  poor,  low-down  upstart."  "I  disagree  with 
you  there,"  said  Harry  Craton,  a  warm  friend  of 
Ned's.  "Who  are  you?"  asked  George,  disdain- 
fully, "you  make  me  tired.  Come  on,  Bob,  let's  go," 
he  called  to  another  boy,  who  went  with  George,  not 
because  he  liked  him,  but  because  he  had  money. 
"Those  fellows  make  me  tired,"  said  Bob  Liton,  the 
toady;  "they'll  be  janitors,  probably,  when  you  are 
in  congress."  "That's  about  right,"  said  George, 
loftily. 

Ned  drove  a  grocery  wagon  after  school,  and  he 
had  to  take  some  groceries  out  to  Mr.  Drake's  house. 
He  saw  George  and  Bob  ahead  of  him  and  they  also 
saw  him.  As  soon  as  they  saw  him  they  dodged  be- 
hind a  bank.  "I  wonder  what  they  did  that  for," 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  13 

thought  Ned,  but  he  soon  dismissed  it  from  his  mind. 
Suddenly  from  the  same  place  where  he  afterwards 
remembered  he  had  seen  George  and  Bob  disappear, 
a  stone  whizzed  through  the  air  and  hit  the  horse, 
who,  not  liking  the  pain,  stopped  quickly  and  kicked 
the  wheel  two  or  three  times.  ' '  Whoa !  Billy,  whoa ! ' ' 
said  Ned,  pulling  on  the  reins,  and  as  he  looked 
around  he  heard  a  suppressed  snicker,  which  he 
thought  came  from  a  bank  on  the  side  of  the  road. 
Getting  down  he  threw  the  weight  out  to  hold  the 
horse  and  advanced  toward  the  bank.  Arriving  at 
the  top  he  saw  George  and  Bob  lying  flat.  "Well, 
that  was  funny,  you  cowards!"  said  Ned,  trying  to 
keep  his  temper. 

"Who's  a  coward?"  blustered  Bob.  "You  are,  if 
you  threw  that  rock."  "I  didn't  throw  it,  but  I'll 
make  you  eat  those  words."  "Come  ahead."  Bob, 
who  prided  himself  on  being  quite  a  fighter,  flew  at 
Ned,  swinging  his  arms  right  and  left.  Ned  guarded 
the  blows  till  he  got  what  he  thought  a  favorable 
opening;  then  he  began  swinging  at  Bob,  who  was 
quite  tired.  He  finally  hit  Bob  a  hard  blow  in  the 
chest  and  Bob  fell  backward  to  the  ground. 

George  all  this  time  had  looked  on,  preferring  to 
see  how  Bob  fared  before  venturing  an  encounter. 


14  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

Upon  falling  Bob  had  struck  a  rock  and  hurt  his 
back,  but  not  as  badly  as  he  intimated.  "Oh,  my 
back!  You've  killed  me,  Ned  Winter.  Ill  have 
you  arrested.  Oh!" 

"I  guess  not/'  smiled  Ned.  "Do  you  want  to  take 
a  chance,  George  ?  You  are  two  of  the  biggest  cow- 
ards I  ever  saw." 

"Never  mind,  Mr.  Bragg,  I'll  get  even  with  you 
yet."  "What  have  I  done  to  you?"  " You Ve  hurt 

my  chum,  you ! ' '  George  stopped  because  Ned 

had  put  his  hand  over  his  mouth  and  the  rest  of  the 
sentence  was  lost  in  looks  and  muffled  sounds. 

"Now,  if  you  want  to  fight,  say  so.  If  not,  keep 
your  threats  to  yourself."  Ned  did  not  want  to 
fight,  but  he  had  long  endured  the  taunts  and  jeers 
of  George  and  his  "chum"  and  thought  he  might  as 
well  put  a  stop  to  it,  so  with  that  he  ran  down  the 
bank  and  drove  off. 

"My,  how  I'd  like  to  punch  his  face,"  said  George. 
"Why  didn't  you?"  said  Bob,  who  was  kind  of  sore 
because  of  the  treatment  he  had  received.  "Oh, 
that's  all  right.  I  didn't  want  to  hurt  him,"  as- 
sumed George,  now  that  Ned  could  be  seen  a  safe 
distance  away. 

The  two  walked  along  in  silence  for  a  while,  when 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  15 

George  suddenly  said,  "His  dad  owes  the  old  man 
some  money  on  a  mortgage  or  something  like  that. 
I  '11  try  and  get  him  to  foreclose,  and  then  my  young 
fighter  won't  be  so  spry."  "That'll  be  fine,"  as- 
sented Bob,  "but  will  your  dad  do  it?"  "I  guess 
so.  Dad's  awful  tight  sometimes,  though." 

That  evening  at  the  supper  table,  George  sud- 
denly broke  off  the  subject  of  conversation  and  turn- 
ing to  his  father,  asked,  "Father,  Mr.  Winter  owes 
you  some  money,  doesn't  he?"  "Yes,  my  son,  why 

do  you  ask?"  "Well,  er (George  found  it 

harder  to  begin  than  he  at  first  thought)  is  it  near 
time  to  collect?" 

'  *  No,  why  ? "  "  Well,  you  know  Ned  is  very  insult- 
ing to  me  and  even  dared  to  call  me  a  coward. 
Couldn't  you  make  him  pay  right  away?"  "No.  I 
can,  but  I  do  not  wish  to,  so  that  is  settled." 

George  Drake  was  extremely  disappointed  and  the 
next  day  he  asked  his  father  to  send  him  to  a  board- 
ing-school. He  got  a  prompt  refusal  and  this  in- 
creased his  hatred  for  Ned  all  the  more. 

The  next  day  after  school  Ned  was  playing  ball 
with  some  other  boys.  George  was  standing  aloof 
from  the  others,  smoking  a  cigarette,  when  a 
boy  at  the  bat  said,  "Hey,  dudey !  I  bet  I  can  knock 


16  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

the  cigarette  out  of  your  mouth."  ''Oh,  don't  hit 
him;  he  might  evaporate,"  called  Ned.  Angered  by 
the  shouts  of  the  other  boys,  George  picked  up  a 
large  stone  and  threw  it  at  Ned,  who  ducked  so  that 
it  flew  over  his  head.  "Be  careful  there,  little  one, 
or  you'll  get  hurt,"  said  Ned,  warningly.  "Oh,  is 
that  so.  We  '11  see, ' '  and  he  picked  up  another  stone 
and  threw  it  at  Ned,  but  missed  him  this  time,  also. 
Ned  ran  up  to  George  and  proceeded  to  give  him  a 
good  drubbing,  but  he  received  a  purple  eye  in  re- 
turn. 

After  Ned  had  made  George  say  that  he  had  had 
enough,  he  got  on  the  wagon  and  went  on.  As  he 
drove  along  he  began  to  think  how  nice  it  would  be 
if  he  could  earn  a  larger  salary  and  help  his  father. 
He  told  himself  there  was  nothing  to  do  in  Coleville, 
but  why  couldn't  he  leave  Coleville,  go  away  and  be 
a  sailor  (Ned  had  always  hoped  he  might  be  a  sailor) 
and  maybe  get  to  be  the  captain  of  the  boat?  It  was 
not  that  Ned  wanted  to  leave  home,  but  because  he 
knew  that  his  father's  salary  was  small  and  his  fam- 
ily rather  large,  and  he  decided  that  if  he  went  he 
certainly  would  try  a  hand  at  the  sea. 

Ned 's  day  dreams  were  interrupted  by  finding  that 
he  had  driven  two  blocks  past  the  house  he  was  going 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  17 

to.  That  evening  he  again  asked  his  father  if  he 
could  go,  and  his  father  simply  said,  "Yes,  if  you 
think  you  can  succeed,  all  right,  and  may  God  pro- 
tect you."  Ned  hardly  stopped  to  thank  his  father, 
but  rushed  out  of  the  house  and  told  his  friends. 


CHAPTER  II. 
Ned  Leaves. 

"Now,  Ned,  take  care  and  don't  get  in  trouble, 
be  honest,  and  if  you  run  out  of  money,  write  us." 
For  Ned  had  shaken  hands  with  all  his  chums  and 
friends  and  was  now  saying  good-bye  to  his  father, 
mother,  little  brother  Tad  and  his  sisters. 

"Good-bye,  Edward,"  his  mother  nearly  sobbed, 
*  *  and  may  God  bless  you.  Write  to  us  often  and  take 
care  of  yourself."  "Bring  me  loth  of  orangeth," 
lisped  Tad.  "All  aboard,"  yelled  the  conductor, 
loudly,  ' '  All  aboard ! "  "  Good-bye, ' '  said  Ned,  as  he 
kissed  his  mother.  "I'll  write  often.  Good-bye, 
father;  don't  work  too  hard.  I'll  bring  you  some 
oranges,  Tad ;  and  Mary,  you  a  trunk  full  of  cocoa- 
nuts,  and  Katy  lots  of  bananas." 

With  a  creak  and  a  groan  the  train  began  to  move 
like  a  huge  serpent.  Ned  grabbed  his  suit-cases  and 


18  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

hopped  aboard,  but  he  stood  on  the  rear  platform  and 
waved  while  his  schoolmates  cheered  him,  and  then 

the  school,  and  then the  serpent  swept  around 

a  curve  and  the  station  was  out  of  sight.  Ned  turned 
and  went  back  into  his  car.  He  was  glad  he  could 
help  his  father,  but  it  was  very  hard  to  leave.  A 
large  lump  arose  in  his  throat  and  he  looked  out  of 
the  window  a  long  time.  When  he  looked  around 
he  found  that  he  had  a  seat-mate. 

"Fine  day,"  remarked  the  man  placidly. 

"Very,"  acquiesced  Ned. 

"Going  far?" 

"To  Boise." 

"Traveled  much?" 

"A  little." 

Ned  looked  at  the  man  closely.  He  had  heard  of 
pickpockets,  and  to  have  his  pockets  picked  when 
not  twenty  miles  from  Coleville  would  be  awful. 

He  looked  at  the  stranger  again  and  observed 
that  the  man  was  of  stocky  build.  His  face  a  trifle 
hard,  with  a  firm  mouth,  large  nose  and  weak  gray 
eyes,  would  be  the  character  critic's  first  decision, 
but  on  looking  again  he  would  see  kindliness  in  those 
gray  eyes  and  that  often  a  smile  dispelled  the  hard 
lines  of  the  mouth. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  19 

"I  am  going  to  Seattle  and  from  there  to  Aus- 
tralia. Don't  suppose  you've  ever  been  there ?" 

"No,  sir,  but  I  am  going er,  I  mean  I  am  going 

after  awhile."  "I  see,"  said  the  man,  blinking 
through  his  glasses.  "Beautiful  country  here,  isn't 
it?  Where  do  you  live?"  "In  Coleville,  quite  a  way 
back." 

The  stranger  blinked  again.  "I  got  on  at  Streaton 
— been  to  visit  a  friend.  Let  me  introduce  myself. 
I  am  Dr.  Phil.  Emery  of  Melbourne,  New  South 
Wales,  Australia.  If  you  come  to  Melbourne — if  you 
come  to  Australia  at  all,  do  come  and  see  us.  I  have 
a  boy  about  your  age,  also  a  daughter  and  a  wife. 
We'll  be  delighted  to  see  you.  If  you'll  excuse  me 
a  few  moments  I  will  go  in  the  smoker, ' '  and  the  odd 
little  man  walked  nervously  away. 

Ned  looked  at  the  card  that  had  been  thrust  into 
his  hands  and  on  it  he  read  the  doctor's  address  in 
Melbourne.  Opening  his  suit-case  he  carefully  put 
the  card  away,  because  he  told  himself  it  might  come 
in  handy  some  day. 

In  another  hour  the  train  reached  Boise.  Ned  ate 
a  bite  of  lunch  and  then  caught  his  train  for  Seattle. 
The  train  sped  merrily  along  for  an  hour  or  so, 
when  it  stopped  at  a  small  town  to  make  a  slight 


20  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

repair.  Ned  got  out  and  walked  up  and  down  to 
stretch  his  legs.  As  he  neared  the  last  car  he  thought 
he  saw  a  man's  form  lying  on  the  brake  beam. 
Stooping  down,  he  looked  under,  and  was  surprised 
to  find  himself  staring  squarely  into  the  eyes  of  a  boy 
of  about  his  own  age. 

4 ' Hello!"  said  the  occupant  of  the  brake  beam, 
"Guess  I'll  stretch  my  legs  a  bit,  too."  The  boy 
cautiously  got  out  from  under  the  car  and  faced 
Ned.  "Wouldn't  lend  me  a  quarter,  would  you?" 
he  asked  suddenly.  Ned  handed  out  the  required 
amount.  "Goin'  to  Seattle?"  asked  the  other. 
' '  Yes, ' '  answered  Ned,  "  ar e  y ou  ? "  "  Yes,  if  I  don 't 
get  kicked  off  between  here  and  there."  "I  hope 
that  you  get  there,"  said  Ned,  as  the  train  began  to 
move. 

After  five  hours  of  almost  uninterrupted  travel 
the  wheezing  train  reached  Seattle.  Upon  landing 
on  the  platform,  Ned  ran  plump  into  his  friend,  the 
rider  of  the  brake  beam.  As  Ned  walked  up  the 
main  street,  his  new-found  friend  kept  pace  at  his 
side.  Finally,  the  latter  broke  the  silence  with,  "Are 
you  looking  for  a  job?"  "Yes,  I  want  to  get  one 
as  soon  as  I  can."  "So  do  I.  Would  you  mind 
lending  me  a  couple  of  dollars  ?  I  '11  pay  you  back  as 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  21 

soon  as  I  get  work."  "I  believe  you  will,"  said 
Ned,  giving  his  impromptu  friend  the  money.  "We 
can  look  together.  For  my  part,  I  want  to  get  a  job 
on  the  ocean."  "I  would,  too.  My  name's  Billy 
Page.  What's  yours?"  "Ned  Winter.  Do  you  know 
of  a  good  rooming-house  here?"  "Nope — let's  look 
farther  down  the  street."  Soon  a  fairly  suitable 
looking  place  was  found,  and  Ned  engaged  a  room 
for  two  days.  The  room  contained  two  single  beds, 
and  after  a  small  supper  at  a  lunch  counter,  both 
boys  tumbled  into  bed.  In  the  morning  they  ate 
a  lunch-counter  breakfast,  and  then  began  looking 
for  work,  both  going  to  the  wharves. 

My  readers  may  wonder  why  Ned  did  what  he 
did  for  just  a  chance  acquaintance.  The  reason  was 
this — on  leaving  home  Ned  had  resolved  not  to  get 
homesick,  but  as  he  made  no  other  acquaintance  than 
the  doctor,  a  feeling  of  homesickness  stole  over  him 
unconsciously. 

All  the  morning  both  boys  looked  industriously  for 
a  position  on  a  ship,  but  with  scant  success.  They 
met  at  the  boarding-house  at  noon,  ate  a  light  lunch 
and  hurried  out  to  look  for  work  again.  Ned  was 
beginning  to  like  Billy  and  Billy  was  beginning  to 
like  Ned.  Ned  was  also  getting  over  his  homesick- 


22  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

ness,  he  was  so  busy  looking  at  the  large  ships  and 
strange  scenes,  which  were  all  new  to  the  boy  born 
and  reared  in  the  country. 

The  following  day  was  the  same,  and  at  night  Ned 
put  in  an  hour  writing  home.  The  next  day  at  noon 
Billy  came  into  the  little  lunch-room  where  Ned  was 
waiting  for  him,  very  much  excited.  "I've  got  a 
job,  Ned!  I've  got  a  job!"  " What  doing ?  Where V 
"In  a  big  down-town  department  store.  It's  only 
nine  dollars  a  week,  but  that's  better  than  nothing." 
"You  bet!  Maybe  I'll  get  one  tomorrow."  "I 
hope  you  do." 

But  Ned  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  work  at  all,  and  that  night  he  came 
home  tired  and  discouraged.  After  supper  he  was 
aware  that  he  had  a  splitting  headache  and  he  left 
the  house,  thinking  that  the  night  air  would  help 
him.  He  walked  on  toward  the  wharves,  little  think- 
ing in  what  direction  he  was  going.  Finally  he 
emerged  from  his  abstraction,  finding  himself  down 
by  the  wharves  and  warehouses.  What  was  that  he 
heard!  A  bell?  There  must  be  a  fire  somewhere. 
He  ran  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  turned  a  cor- 
ner and  saw  a  heavy  fire  engine  dashing  headlong 
down  the  street,  ringing  the  bell  every  step.  Led 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  23 

by  the  common  instinct  of  a  boy,  he  followed  the 
fire  engine.  Straight  ahead  he  saw  a  red  glow  out- 
lined sharply  against  the  starless  sky.  He  arrived 
at  the  fire  nearly  breathless.  In  his  hard  exertions 
from  running  his  headache  had  disappeared.  A 
large  crowd  had  gathered  in  the  street,  and  inter- 
mingled in  the  crowd  Ned  noticed  half-dressed  men, 
women  and  crying  children — refugees  who  had 
rushed  out  of  the  stricken  building,  glad  to  escape 
with  their  lives. 

"What  kind  of  a  building  is  it?"  asked  Ned  of  a 
man  near  him.  "Hotel  and  apartment  house,  I 
believe." 

As  Ned  looked  at  the  horrible  spectacle  he  shud- 
dered, not  because  of  the  night  air,  but  because  he 
stood  there  watching  a  super-human  monster  engulf- 
ing the  hard-earned  savings  of  people — probably  all 
they  have,  and  tomorrow  these  people  must  start 
life  anew,  begin  all  over  again.  "And  why?"  Ned 
asked  himself.  Here  were  men — hundreds  of  them, 
standing  grave  and  awed  by  this  monster  fire. 
These  men  were  powerless  to  interfere,  and  as  Ned 
looked  again  he  felt  sick  all  over  and  faint. 

Suddenly  his  musings  were  interrupted  by  a  cry 
coming  from  the  burning  building.  Again  he  in- 


24  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

stinctively  ran  towards  it.  As  he  did  he  saw  for 
just  a  moment  through  a  thick  volume  of  smoke  a 
man,  pale  dishevelled-looking,  standing  at  a  window 
on  the  third  floor. 

The  man  vanished  again  quickly  as  the  flames 
receded,  but  another  huge  tongue  of  flame  sprang  up, 
illuminating  the  scene. 

"Here,  boy,"  said  a  fireman,  hoarsely,  "you're 
light;  won't  you  climb  the  ladder  and  bring  that  man 
down?"  The  voice  seemed  to  be  pleading.  "Won't 
you?"  it  said  again,  "time's  precious — hurry.  The 
top  ladder's  half  burned — hurry!  It  won't  hold  two 
men.  Here's  a  wet  cloth.  Put  it  around  your  nose 
and  mouth.  Hurry!" 

Ned  sprang  up  the  ladder  nimbly.  As  he  did  so  he 
wondered  why  the  firemen  themselves  had  not  gone. 
As  if  in  answer  to  his  question,  he  quickly  realized 
that  it  was  his  instinct  to  help  his  fellow-man  that 
had  prompted  him  to  climb  the  ladder.  As  he 
reached  the  middle  of  the  third  ladder  he  felt  the  hot 
breath  of  the  flames  as  they  leaped  and  danced  above 
and  below  him.  The  smoke  was  thick  and  heavy  and 
he  coughed  violently.  For  a  moment  he  hesitated; 
then  as  he  heard  the  cries  of  the  firemen  below  him 
he  sprang  up  to  the  third  ladder.  Here  the  flames 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  25 

were  even  hotter  and  the  smoke  more  stifling.  His 
hands  and  face  were  scorched  and  he  wondered 
vaguely  if  he  would  reach  the  third  story  alive.  All 
things  must  have  an  end,  and  so  did  Ned's  climb. 

"Here  I  am,"  said  a  weak  voice.  What  Ned  saw 
was  a  medium-sized  man  hanging  out  of  the  window, 
with  his  eyes  closed,  looking  more  dead  than  alive. 
"He's  fainted,"  thought  Ned,  "I  must  get  him  down 
quickly."  So  saying,  he  picked  the  man  up  bodily 
and  began  to  retrace  his  steps.  The  people  were 
cheering  now,  but  to  Ned  it  sounded  faint  and  far 
away,  and  he  felt  sick  and  dizzy  as  he  staggered 
under  the  heavy  load. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  crack  and  the  ladder  gave 
way.  Ned  let  go  of  the  man.  He  felt  as  though  he 
was  going  down  never  to  stop.  The  cheering  died 
away  suddenly  and  Ned  knew  no  more.  When  he 
awoke  he  was  in  a  strange  room  and  a  strange  bed. 
"Shall  I  wake  him?  It  is  time  for  the  medicine," 
he  heard  a  voice  say.  "Yes."  Here  Ned  thought 
the  voice  sounded  masculine.  Presently  his  head 
was  raised  and  he  was  given  some  medicine,  which 
he  quickly  gulped  down  and  in  five  minutes  he  was 
asleep. 


26  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

When  he  awoke  again  it  was  broad  daylight.  He 
raised  himself  on  his  elbow,  but  found  his  hand  hurt 
him  badly.  Finally  he  propped  himself  on  a  pillow 
and  looked  around.  Next  to  him,  not  three  feet 
away,  another  man  was  sleeping.  "The  man  of  the 
fire  last  night, "  he  thought,  "wonder  if  he  was  hurt 
much."  The  room  he  was  in  was  not  much  like  his 
boarding-place,  and  for  a  moment  he  did  not  under- 
stand; then  he  recollected  it  all — the  fire,  the  man, 
the  broken  ladder.  Presently  a  man  entered  carry- 
ing a  small  suit-case,  which  he  sat  down  and  then 
walked  over  to  Ned's  bed.  "Ah,  ha!  awake — how 
are  you  feeling?"  said  the  man  in  a  big,  hearty 
voice. 

"All  right.  You're  the  doctor,  aren't  you?" 
' '  Yes. "  "  How  long  have  I  slept  ? "  "  About  twenty- 
five  hours.  That  was  a  plucky  thing  to  do,  my  boy, 
and  you  had  good  presence  of  mind,  too.  That's 
what  counts,"  said  the  doctor  in  the  same  hearty 
tone.  "Where  is  the  man?"  "He's  right  there  next 
to  you."  Ned  looked  and  saw  the  man  next  to  him 
with  his  hands  and  face  all  bandaged  up.  "Did  he 
fall  in  the  net?"  Ned  again  asked.  "Yes,  and  I'll 
tell  you,  the  man  you  saved  was  about  gone  when 
you  got  up  to  the  window."  "When  will  I  be  able 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  27 

to  get  up?"  " Maybe  tomorrow,  maybe  the  next  day. 
You  were  not  badly  hurt,  just  burned  a  little." 

The  next  day  Ned  learned  that  the  man  he  had 
saved  was  a  coaster  captain  by  the  name  of 
McLayne,  who  because  of  the  accident  would  have 
to  stay  in  port  while  his  vessel  made  a  trip.  A  week 
after  the  fire  Ned  was  called  to  the  telephone  by  the 
man  he  had  saved.  "I'd  like  to  see  ye,  me  bye. 
Won't  ye  come  down  and  see  me?"  came  over  the 
telephone  in  an  unmistakable  Irish  brogue.  "All 
right,"  answered  Ned,  and  ran  and  took  a  car  for 
the  man's  boarding-place.  On  arriving  Ned  went 
up  to  room  sixteen  and  knocked.  "Come  in,"  said 
a  voice.  Ned  obeyed  and  found  himself  in  a  neatly 
furnished  room  in  which  a  man  was  seated  near  the 
window,  through  which  the  sun  was  streaming  in 
delightfully. 

"Oh,  you're  here,  are  you?  Well,  come  and  sit 
down,  me  bye — and  a  brave  bye  ye  are,  too."  "How 
are  you  feeling  now?"  asked  Ned,  shaking  hands 
with  Mr.  McLayne.  "I  am  well  now,  me  bye.  I'd 
like  to  reward  you  a  little,  ye  know."  "It  was 
nothing.  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't,"  said  Ned. 
"Come,  that  was  a  daring  thing  to  do."  Ned  per- 
sisted that  he  had  done  nothing,  but  the  strong 


28  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


willed  Irishman  in  the  end  made  him  keep  a  $20 
bill.  "And  if  I  ever  get  a  chanst  to  help  ye,  me  bye, 
I  will,"  said  Mr.  McLayne,  as  Ned  rose  to  go.  "Come 
again  tomorrow.  It's  awful  lonesome  up  here." 
"I  will;  good-bye ". 

Ned  Gets  a  Job. 

The  next  day  Ned  went  to  see  Mr.  McLayne  and 
during  the  conversation  told  him  of  the  trip  he 
wanted  to  take  and  that  he  wanted  to  get  a  job 
on  a  boat. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  you  do.  Go  see  my  first  officer, 
Doyle.  I'll  give  you  a  note  to  him  and  he'll  put 
you  on  as  cabin  boy."  "Thank  you  ever  so  much." 
"Don't  mention  it,  me  bye,  don't  mention  it.  Give 
me  a  piece  of  paper  and  pencil  and  that'll  fix  ye  up." 

Armed  with  the  note  Ned  went  to  pier  No.  6, 
but  no  boat  was  tied  there.  He  felt  a  strange  sink- 
ing of  his  heart  at  the  thought  of  being  without  a 
job.  Going  up  to  a  sailor,  he  said,  "Could  you  tell 
me  where  the  *  Rocket'  is?"  "Over  at  pier  8 — 
just  went  over.  That's  her  on  the  left  with  the 
blue  and  red  flag."  "Thank  you,"  and  Ned  hurried 
away.  Quickly  he  ran  over  to  pier  No.  8  and  there 
he  saw  the  Eocket  just  about  to  land.  "Make  fast, 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  29 

there,"  called  a  deckhand,  throwing  Ned  a  rope. 
This  Ned  made  fast  to  the  dock  pile  and  then  stood 
watching  the  skillful  quartermaster  make  a  landing. 

As  soon  as  the  ship  was  tied  securely,  Ned  jumped 
aboard.  "Are  you  Captain  Doyle?"  he  asked  of  a 
large  man  with  an  immense  amount  of  gold  braid 
on  his  cap.  "That's  me — what  do  you  want?"  "Mr. 
McLayne  said  I  could  get  a  job."  "So  you're  the 
boy  who  saved  him?  Yes,  I've  got  a  job  for  you. 
Get  your  traps  aboard — we  sail  tomorrow.  Do  what 
the  cook  tells  you,  and  wait  on  the  officers'  mess." 
So  saying,  Acting-Captain  Doyle  turned  his  back  on 
Ned  and  resumed  his  duties. 

As  Ned  went  back  to  his  boarding-place,  he  told 
himself  his  job  was  not  very  much  but  it  was  better 
than  nothing,  so  he  grimly  climbed  the  rickety  stairs 
for  the  last  time,  packed  his  suit-cases,  paid  his  bill 
and  made  his  way  down  to  pier  8. 

The  cook,  who  was  a  comical  Irishman,  showed 
Ned  his  bunk,  and  then  gave  him  what  he  thought 
was  a  gigantic  pan  of  potatoes  to  peel.  All  day 
he  helped  the  cook,  and  when  at  last  he  was  told 
he  could  go  to  bed  he  didn't  tarry  long  before 
going  to  sleep.  Next  morning  he  was  stiff,  but  went 
to  work  without  a  grumble.  At  seven  o'clock  the 


30  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


Captain  mounted  the  bridge,  gave  two  long  blasts 
on  the  whistle  and  ordered  the  engineer  to  get  up 
steam.  Half  an  hour  later  Ned  was  beginning  his 
first  sea  voyage. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  first  day  out  Ned  felt  no  signs  of  seasickness 
and  felt  quite  elated  as  he  went  about  his  work. 
Next  morning,  however,  just,  after  he  had  dressed, 
he  felt  a  slight  headache  and  as  he  started  for  the 
galley,  he  suddenly  became  dizzy  and  made  a  rush 
for  the  rail,  where  he  leaned  over  the  side  and  felt 
as  though  the  earth  had  suddenly  turned  upside 
down.  All  day  Ned  lay  in  his  bunk,  so  sick  he  could 
scarcely  move.  The  following  morning  he  felt  better, 
and  about  noon  resumed  his  duties.  Two  days  later 
they  passed  the  Cliff  House  at  San  Francisco,  where 
they  stayed  till  next  morning. 

Ned  stayed  with  the  "  Rocket "  through  five  trips, 
then  decided  that  as  he  had  nearly  a  hundred  dollars, 
he'd  like  to  go  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  So,  when 
the  "Rocket"  reached  San  Francisco,  Ned  told  the 
captain  of  his  intentions.  He  was  paid  for  his  work, 
and  before  leaving  he  shook  hands  with  the  officers 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  31 

and  crew,   all  of  whom    had  learned  to  like  him. 

Ned  left  the  wharves  and  went  straight  to  a 
boarding-house,  where  he  secured  board  and  lodging 
for  a  week.  He  now  decided  to  ship  on  a  boat,  as 
he  was  not  as  green  on  nautical  affairs  and  terms 
as  he  had  been  before  he  shipped  on  the  "  Rocket ". 
For  a  week  he  searched  in  vain  for  a  position  on  a 
west-bound  boat.  He  then  decided  to  get  a  job  in 
the  city  and  watch  for  a  boat  on  which  he  could 
get  a  positi«i. 

One  day  when  he  was  down  town  he  saw  a  circus 
parade.  With  boyish  enthusiasm  he  followed  it  to 
the  circus  grounds,  where  he  spent  a  good  hour 
watching  the  animals  and  circus  men.  Suddenly 
he  asked  himself,  "Why  not  get  a  job  with  the 
circus  ?"  He  waited  another  hour  before  he  got  a 
chance  to  speak  to  the  manager.  "Are  you  Mr. 
Donivan?"  asked  our  hero  timidly.  "That's  me, 
answered  a  big,  red-faced  man,  who  wore  a  large 
checked  vest,  heavy  watch  fob  and  large  derby — 
the  type  of  man  who  knows  little  and  talks  much. 
"That's  me,"  he  said,  "What  can  I  do  for  you?" 
"I  thought  maybe  you  needed  some  help."  "H-m! 
yes,  I'll  give  you  a  job  tendin'  ponies.  See  that  tall 
man  with  big  boots  on?  He's  your  boss.  You'll  get 


32  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


$7.00  a  week,"  and  the  man  walked  away,  bellowing 
orders  loudly. 

Ned  sought  the  tall  man  and  was  given  his  orders 
briefly.  "These  yar  ponies,"  he  said,  indicating 
four  Shetlands  quietly  munching  hay.  "You  are  to 
take  keer  of,  go  in  the  parade  with,  and  feed,  water 
and  look  arter  in  general;  and  that's  your  wagon 
with  the  large  letters  on.  Now  ye '11  have  some  time 
to  loaf,  but  don't  ye  neglect  them  there  ponies." 
From  a  boy  about  his  age  Ned  learn  A  ^  where  the 
food  for  the  ponies  was  kept,  where  the  men  ate, 
and  that  they  were  bound  for  Honolulu.  This  state- 
ment Ned  hailed  with  delight.  He  hurried  down 
town,  where  he  got  his  clothes,  paid  his  bill  and 
departed  for  the  show  grounds.  He  carefully  brushed 
his  ponies  for  the  evening  performance,  and  smoothed 
down  his  own  uniform,  which  had  been  presented 
to  him  by  "Jake",  the  tall  boss. 

Ned  saw  half  of  the  performance  the  first  evening 
and  began  to  think  circus  life  all  a  bed  of  roses. 
He  changed  his  mind,  however,  the  next  morning, 
when  he  was  routed  out  of  his  cot  before  daylight 
to  do  his  work.  After  dinner  he  went  down  town, 
where  he  wrote  his  father  and  Mr.  Clovis  each  a 
good,  long  letter.  In  Mr.  Clovis'  letter  he  sent  the 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  33 

first  paragraph  of  his  travels.  After  he  had  posted 
the  letters,  as  he  had  plenty  of  time,  he  wandered 
down  toward  the  wharves,  where  he  stayed  until  it 
was  time  to  return  to  the  show  grounds  to  give  his 
ponies  the  finishing  touches  before  they  entered  the 
ring.  Having  nothing  to  do  after  he  had  eaten  his 
supper,  he  sought  the  boy  who  had  been  friendly 
the  day  before.  He  told  Ned  his  name  was  Ray 
Bronson,  and  Ned  told  him  his  name  and  why  he 
was  takingJthe  trip.  "I  only  wish  I  had  a  father 
to  help,"  Ray  said,  ''my  parents  died  when  I  was 
just  a  youngster."  Ned  instantly  felt  sorry  for  the 
orphan  boy  and  thought  he  would  like  him. 

Ray  proposed  a  walk  down  by  the  cages.  Ned 
readily  consented,  and  they  strolled  down  past  the 
cages  of  the  cat  family  and  tried  to  catch  the  eye 
of  the  tawny  lion,  but  were  unsuccessful,  as  a  lion 
will  rarely  ever  look  a  human  being  directly  in  the 
eye.  They  wandered  on,  Ray  telling  Ned  the  names 
and  peculiarities  of  the  different  animals. 

"That's  the  Prince  of  India,"  said  Ray,  pointing 
to  a  large  Bengal  tiger,  who  looked  at  them  in  digni- 
fied silence.  "He  got  out  once  and  nearly  killed 
his  keeper  before  he  was  caught — just  after  I  joined 
the  show."  Here,  as  Ned  looked  at  the  huge 


34  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


teeth  and  jaws  of  the  jungle  monarch,  he  ex- 
perienced a  slight  momentary  nervousness. 

"This  elephant  is  Samoii,  the  most  costly  animal, 
I  guess,  in  the  show.  He's  awfully  ill-natured;  he 
broke  loose  once  and  killed  two  or  three  horses  and 
wrecked  fences,  wagons  and  anything  that  stood 
in  his  way.  Abdo,  that  little  man  with  the  Soudan 
cap,  got  on  a  horse  and  caught  Samoii,  merely  by 
will  power — *so  the  men  say,"  said  Ray  "I  should 
think  he'd  have  to  have  will  power  to  keep  that 
monster  in  check, ' '  said  Ned,  as  he  measured  Samoii 
and  then  Abdo. 

Abdo  was  talking  with  a  large,  red-headed  man, 
who  appeared  at  the  point  of  giving  the  little  tamer 
a  licking.  Ned  and  Ray  stopped  instinctively  and 
watched.  The  big  man  walked  off,  swearing  loudly 
at  the  elephant  keeper  that  he'd  "get  even",  while 
the  keeper  resumed  his  seat  by  the  elephant. 

After  Ray  and  Ned  had  studied  the  animals 
awhile,  they  went  to  put  on  their  ponies'  tassels  and 
spangles. 

Now  let  us  return  to  Coleville. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  35 

CHAPTER  IV. 

One  morning  Mr.  Blake  received  a  telegram  from 
the  Alaskan  Mining  Company,  telling  him  that  the 
mines  were  doing  extra  well.  Mr.  Blake  had  been 
trying  to  buy  Mr.  Winter's  stock,  but  the  latter 
had  refused  to  sell,  and  Mr.  Blake  knew  that  as  long 
as  Ned  could  send  his  father  money  enough  to  pay 
the  quarterly  interest  on  the  mortgage  Mr.  Blake 
held  on  the  Winter  home,  he  would  never  get  the 
stock.  To  get  the  stock  would  mean  thousands  of 
dollars  in  Mr.  Blake's  pocket  and  he  resolved  to 
play  his  highest  trump,  which  was  knavery.  He 
made  a  trip  to  Boise  and  got  the  service  of  a  thug, 
robber  and  all  round  "bad  man",  instructing  him  to 
follow  Ned,  get  him  and  confine  him  till  he,  Mr. 
Blake,  got  the  stock.  He  knew  that  as  soon  as  Ned 
stopped  sending  money  for  the  interest,  Mr.  Winter 
would  sell  part  of  the  stock  and  probably  all  of  it. 

It  was  a  bold  trick,  and  the  passing  thought  would 
be  that  it  was  an  impractical  one,  but  worse  tricks 
have  been  performed  to  secure  even  less  money. 
Securing  information  from  Mr.  Winter  as  to  Ned's 
whereabouts,  on  the  "Rocket",  Mr.  Blake  quickly 
sent  the  "bad  man"  to  San  Francisco.  Gaines — for 
fhis  was  his  name — after  arriving  in  San  Francisco 


36  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


spent  nearly  all  of  his  money  before  he  located  Ned. 
He  then  decided  to  follow  the  circus  and,  if  possible, 
join  it.  So  he  became  acquainted  with  Abdo  and 
treated  him  well  and  then  asked  Abdo  to  get  him  a 
position.  Abdo  refused  and  Gaines  saw  that  if  he 
did  not  get  a  position  with  the  circus  soon,  Ned 
would  slip  through  his  fingers,  together  with  the 
$500  he  was  promised  on  the  success  of  his  mission. 
All  unconscious  of  who  Abdo's  angry  friend  was, 
Ned  went  about  his  work.  Ned's  ponies  performed 
about  the  middle  of  the  show.  As  Ned  and  another 
attendant  led  the  ponies  into  the  ring,  Ned  noticed 
that  Samoii  and  Abdo  were  acting.  As  he  delivered 
his  ponies  to  the  ringmaster,  Ned  noticed  a  man 
looking  for  a  seat,  who  had  apparently  just  entered 
the  show.  Ned  walked  slowly,  as  he  knew  it  was 
the  same  man  who  had  become  angry  at  Abdo  that 
afternoon.  Abdo  was  all  unconscious  of  the  man, 
who  now  edged  nearer  the  ring.  The  audience  saw 
just  a  man  looking  at  the  elephant,  but  Ned  knew 
he  was  not  there  to  enjoy  the  show.  Suddenly  in 
two  leaps  the  man  reached  the  ringside  and  drawing 
something  from  his  pocket,  he  threw  two  handfuls 
of  it  into  the  elephant's  eyes.  Then  turning,  he  ran 
at  top  speed  in  the  direction  of  the  dressing  tents. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  37 

The  audience  now  woke  up.  Cries  of,  " What's 
the  matter?"  "Police!"  "Stop  that  man!"  were 
heard  on  all  sides.  Samoii,  blinded  by  the  tobacco 
(for  it  was  tobacco  the  man  had  thrown),  gave  a 
terrifying  roar,  fell  back  awkwardly  and  then 
charged  straight  for  the  seats,  where  fully  a  thousand 
people  sat  stupefied.  But  suddenly  the  elephant 
changed  his  course  and  ran  straight  for  the  seats 
near  the  dressing  exit.  Abdo,  running  after  the 
huge  elephant,  who  was  moving  at  the  speed  of  a 
runaway  train,  screamed  unintelligible  things  at  the 
charging  monster.  Ned  had  watched  the  scene, 
stupefied,  as  had  the  audience.  When  he  saw  the 
lumbering  elephant  coming  straight  toward  him, 
eyes  staring,  trunk  waving,  and  bellowing  and  roar- 
ing, he  felt  that  the  time  for  either  action  or  death 
had  come.  One  can  do  extraordinary  things  when 
occasion  requires.  Looking  about  him,  Ned  saw 
three  buckets  of  water  used  for  emergency  in  case 
of  fire.  Seizing  one,  he  threw  the  contents  at  the 
elephant.  Samoii  stopped  a  moment  and  Ned  reached 
another  bucket,  which  struck  the  elephant  full  in 
the  face. 

Abdo  now  reached  the  elephant's  side  and  struck 
him  sharply  with  a  sharp  steel  weapon  which  he 


38  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


always  carried.  But  even  this  had  but  little  effect 
upon  the  brute.  With  a  great  sweep  of  his  trunk 
he  caught  Ned  around  the  waist  and  tossed  him  this 
way  and  that,  without  loosening  his  hold.  Just  as 
the  elephant  swung  Ned  toward  the  ground,  Abdo, 
with  a  light  spring,  landed  on  Samoii  's  trunk.  With 
another  spring  equally  as  quick  the  little  man  from 
Soudan  landed  on  the  elephant 's  head.  All  the  while 
Samoii  continued  his  bellowing  and  roaring.  The 
tent  was  nearly  empty,  but  here  and  there  breathless 
groups  watched  the  awful  spectacle.  As  soon  as 
Abdo  had  reached  the  elephant's  head,  he  pulled 
his  handkerchief  from  his  pocket  and  began  wiping 
the  elephant's  eyes,  prodding  him  the  while  with 
the  short,  sharp  javelin.  The  elephant,  not  yet 
quieted,  though  under  the  powerful  will  of  the  Son 
of  the  Nile,  now  began  to  run  at  furious  speed  around 
the  tent.  The  little  trainer  crouched  low,  hanging 
on  to  the  large  ears  of  Samoii,  who  ran  around  about 
ten  times,  then  lessened  his  pace  and  stopped,  cov- 
ered with  blood  and  sweat  and  breathing  in  long 
gasps.  At  Abdo's  sharp  command,  he  released  Ned, 
who  was  carried  unconscious  into  the  dressing  tent. 
Abdo  stayed  with  Samoii  all  night,  bathing  his 
wounds  and  eyes.  A  vigilant  search  was  kept  up 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  39 

for  the  man  who  threw  the  tobacco.  Although  Abdo 
had  his  suspicions,  he  accused  no  one,  and  the  affair 
was  passed  over,  but  Ned  never  went  near  Samoii 
again. 

The  next  day  the  circus  left  on  the  steamship 
"Orient"  for  Honolulu.  The  day  had  been  spent 
in  loading  the  animals  and  supplies  and  when,  at 
the  last  minute,  a  man  with  a  sack  swung  over  his 
shoulder  jumped  aboard,  no  one  noticed  him  and  he 
would  readily  have  been  taken  for  an  afore-the-mast 
hand  hastening  aboard  at  the  last  minute. 

As  our  readers  may  guess,  this  man  was  none 
other  than  Gaines,  who  had  that  day  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Blake,  telling  him  not  to  lose  Ned,  and 
that  if  he  could  get  possession  of  him  and  keep  him 
for  three  weeks  or  a  month,  he  would  receive  $500 
more  than  he  had  been  promised.  As  this  offer  was 
altogether  tempting  to  Gaines,  he  decided  to  take 
a  little  risk  in  securing  it.  Accordingly  he  jumped 
aboard  the  "Orient"  at  the  last  minute  and  hid  him- 
self in  a  lifeboat. 


40  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Stowaway. 

The  "Orient"  was  a  good  fast  boat,  and  the  circus 
hands  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  trip,  and  when  the 
boat  anchored  in  Honolulu  Ned  and  Ray  were  sorry 
to  leave  her. 

After  playing  two  weeks  in  Hawaii,  Mr.  Donovan 
chartered  the  steamship  ''Princess''  to  take  the  show 
to  the  Philippine  Islands.  Gaines  had  kept  his  eye 
on  Ned  all  the  time,  but  saw  no  chance  to  get 
possession  of  him.  One  day  he  met  an  old  friend, 
a  German  by  the  name  of  Klein.  Thinking  Klein 
might  be  of  some  help  to  him,  Gaines  paid  his 
passage  to  Manila.  Their  boat  left  the  day  before 
the  ' '  Princess ' ',  but  as  it  was  slow  it  would  not  reach 
Manila  till  after  the  arrival  of  the  "Princess". 

One  morning,  when  the  islands  of  Hawaii  appeared 
like  blots  upon  the  otherwise  sea  of  nothingness, 
and  the  white  caps  rolled  and  tossed  in  merry  glee 
at  being  warmed  by  the  golden  sun  as  it  peeped  its 
head  above  the  eastern  horizon,  Ned  and  Ray  were 
walking  on  deck  and  remarked  on  the  beautiful 
quietness  that  surrounded  them  on  all  sides. 

"Don't  you  think  it  will  be  awful  monotonous  on 
this  old  ship  in  about  a  week,  Ned?"  asked  Ray. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  41 

"Yes,  I  suppose  it  will  be,  but  we'll  have  to  make 
the  best  of  it.  For  my  part,  I  think  I'll  enjoy  every 
minute  of  it,"  answered  Ned,  as  they  turned  and 
walked  toward  the  pilot-house,  where  they  stopped 
and  watched  the  brawny  seaman  hold  the  wheel. 

True  to  Ray's  prediction,  the  majority  of  the  circus 
hands  were  sick  of  the  monotonous  journey  in  less 
than  a  week.  The  mess-table  at  which  Ned  and  Ray 
were  seated  was  not  overloaded  with  dainties,  the 
chief  fare  being  salted  pork,  potatoes,  bread,  baked 
beans  and  once  in  a  while  a  pudding. 

"Oh!  I'd  give  all  my  wages  for  a  nice,  dainty 
angel  cake,  right  now,"  said  Ray  one  hot  afternoon, 
as  he  and  Ned  lay  under  an  awning  on  the  deck. 
"So  would  I,"  said  Ned.  Then  they  fell  to  talking 
of  what  they'd  like  to  have  to  eat.  Soon  they  heard 
someone  singing  in  French.  Ray  arose  and  whis- 
pered to  Ned,  "The  captain's  chef's  kitchen  is  right 
under  us.  I  have  an  idea.  Wait  here — I'll  go  see 
if  the  coast  is  clear."  So  saying,  he  trotted  down 
the  scorching  deck  and  soon  returned  with  about 
twenty  feet  of  stout  rope.  He  leaned  down  and 
whispered  his  plan  to  Ned,  who  readily  agreed.  Just 
then  a  couple  of  sailors  began  singing  and  playing 
on  harmonicas  on  the  stern  deck.  Soon  the  quarter 


42  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


deck  was  cleared  till  no  one  but  Ned  and  Ray 
remained.  With  deft  hands  Ray  tied  the  rope  to 
the  deckrail,  then  tightly  and  securely  to  his  feet, 
and  carefully  let  himself  down  head  first  over  the 
side  of  the  deck. 

"Now  keep  watch  and  if  I  give  one  tug  pull  me 
up  quickly;  if  I  give  two  tugs  pull  me  up  slowly — 
that  means  I  've  got  something ;  if  I  give  three  tugs, 
let  me  drop  and  then  yell,  'Man  overboard!'  Now 
don't  get  those  signals  mixed — all  right,  let  'er  go!" 
So  saying,  he  disappeared  over  the  side.  Ned  saw 
him  get  his  footing  and  carefully  open  the  porthole 
of  the  captain's  kitchen.  After  that  he  attended 
strictly  to  his  business  and  when,  after  about  five 
minutes  waiting,  the  rope  gave  two  tugs,  he  began 
pulling  Ray  up.  It  was  no  easy  job  and  was  not 
accomplished  till  Ned  had  two  blisters  on  his  hands. 
Ray  untied  the  rope  and  hid  it  while  Ned  picked 
up  the  booty,  which  consisted  of  an  apple  pie,  a 
mince  pie  and  about  two  pounds  of  macaroons.  They 
quickly  sought  a  secluded  spot  and  in  less  than  an 
hour  had  devoured  the  spoils.  Some  of  my  readers 
may  think  this  a  crime,  but  I  am  sure  the  boys 
meant  no  harm  and  would  gladly  have  paid  for  the 
pastry  had  they  been  called  on  to  do  so. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  43 

For  two  more  days  Ned  and  Ray  ate  pork  and 
beans  and  ship  biscuit  and  dreamed  of  fruit  cakes 
and  pies.  On  the  third  day  they  made  another  raid 
on  the  French  chef's  larder  and  came  off  victorious, 
with  two  pies,  a  pound  of  macaroons  and  a  cake. 
But  this  could  not  last  forever.  One  night  the  chef 
complained,  and  the  boys  decided  it  would  be  unsafe 
to  try  the  delicacies  any  more. 

The  voyage  became  more  dreary  as  time  wore  on, 
but  one  morning  land  was  sighted  and  the  next  day 
the  "Princess"  steamed  into  the  broad  bay  of 
Manila.  They  had  to  wait  till  the  marine  surgeon 
came  on  board  and  examined  the  ship.  "I'll  have  to 
examine  your  lifeboats."  "All  right,  go  ahead," 
said  the  captain.  After  these  formalities,  the  real 
work  of  getting  ashore  began.  , 

The  sun  shone  brightly  that  morning  and  the  many 
small  crafts  dotting  the  bay  added  brilliance  and 
movement  to  the  scene.  But  the  boys  had  no  time 
to  gaze  on  the  beauties  of  Manila  Bay,  for  the 
circus  must  be  on  dry  land  by  the  next  morning. 
They  soon  had  their  ponies  ashore,  but  they  had  to 
help  put  wagons  together  and  unload  hay,  grain 
and  some  of  the  many  fixtures  belonging  to  a  circus. 
That  night  the  whole  circus  force  roomed  at  one 


44  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


hotel.  The  next  morning  the  tent  was  put  up  and 
the  show  settled  down  to  stay  in  Manila  for  a  week. 

For  three  days  the  two  boys  visited  the  interesting 
parts  of  Manila  and  ended  up  by  taking  a  canoe  ride 
on  the  Pasig  River,  when  a  bit  of  adventure  was 
experienced  by  Ned  overturning  the  canoe  and 
giving  them  both  a  good  ducking. 

"Tell  you  what,  Ray,"  Ned  proposed  the  next 
morning,  "let's  get  up  a  picnic  among  some  of  the 
men — all  that  can  get  off  Saturday,  and  go  over  to 
Iloilo.  We  can  charter  a  launch  and  have  a  great 
time/'  "All  right— that  would  be  fine.  But  do 
you  think  the  manager  would  let  us  off  ?"  "I  don 't 
know ;  but  you  make  out  the  list  we  want,  tell  every 
one  he  must  subscribe  toward  the  launch  and  lunch, 
and  I'll  see  the  manager."  "All  right,"  acquiesced 
Ray,  and  he  began  going  over  his  list  of  acquaint- 
ances and  writing  the  desirable  names  down,  while 
Ned  went  off  to  see  the  manager.  After  some  arguing, 
Ned  received  consent  to  take  twenty  men  and  boys. 
The  date  was  laid  for  Saturday,  and  the  launch  was 
chartered.  Friday  morning  the  picnickers  were  noti- 
fied and  gave  to  Ned  the  required  amount.  That 
evening  Ned  and  Ray  went  down  town  and  bought 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  45 

fruit,  cheese,  canned  meat,  bread,  cookies  and  some 
pies  and  melons. 

Saturday  morning  dawned  bright  and  clear — an 
ideal  day  for  a  picnic.  The  circus  hands  gathered 
at  the  wharf,  where  a  wagon  was  waiting  to  empty 
its  appetizing  contents  into  the  puffing  gasoline 
launch  which  was  coming  down  the  bay  to  take 
the  party  to  Iloilo  Island.  The  men  jumped  aboard 
the  launch,  which  was  soon  puffing  off  down  the  bay. 
Half  an  hour  later  the  party  was  landed  and  the 
boatmen  pushed  off,  with  instructions  to  be  back 
at  five  o'clock. 

Ned  now  made  the  men  a  little  speech,  saying 
that  they  had  come  for  rest  and  pleasure  and  that 
swimming  and  running  races  were  to  be  held,  and 
that  the  men  who  caught  the  largest  number  of  fish 
would  be  given  a  prize.  The  crowd  scattered — some 
to  the  beach  for  bathing,  and  others  shouldered  rod 
and  reel  and  with  a  comfortable  pipe  started  for  the 
fishing  shoals.  Ned  and  Ray  went  in  swimming, 
but  soon  dressed  and  with  the  help  of  two  men  they 
prepared  the  lunch.  At  one  o'clock  the  jolly  circus 
men  returned,  and  under  the  shade  of  some  palms 
and  the  historic  ruins  of  the  Moro  palace  heartily 
ate  their  lunch. 


46  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

While  this  party  gaily  feasted,  a  scene  altogether 
different  was  transpiring  at  the  other  end  of  the 
Island.  Two  men  in  a  small  boat  were  trying  des- 
perately to  land  safely.  After  trying  repeatedly 
they  succeeded  and  stepped  ashore,  pulling  the  boat 
upon  the  sandy  beach.  "Old  Drake '11  pay  for  this," 
muttered  the  taller  of  the  two.  "Vot?"  asked  his 
companion,  a  ruddy,  florid  faced  German.  "Nothing, 
Klein,  nothing."  The  men  walked  swiftly  up  the 
beach  and  disappeared  in  the  forest.  They  walked 
hurriedly  and  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  palace. 

"Well  get  him  this  time  and  that  friend  of  his, 
too/'  said  Gaines.  "Have  you  got  the  dope,  Klein?" 
"Yep."  "Well,  here's  the  plan.  If  that  boy  with 
the  brown  cap  sets  any  food  or  water  down,  see  if 
you  can't  manage  to  slip  the  dope  in  it.  In  his 
friend's,  too."  "All  right.  Yen  shall  I  start?" 
"Not  now — wait  a  bit — watch  them,  it's  too  risky 
among  that  crowd." 

Ned  and  Eay  slowly  moved  with  their  lunch  to  the 
shade  of  two  large  eucalyptus  trees  fifty  yards  or 
more  from  the  castle  where  the  crowd  were  eating. 
They  had  come  to  the  soda  and  melons.  They  set 
the  bottles  down  while  they  cut  the  melons,  and 
as  they  did  so,  Klein  stealthily  approached  and 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  47 

poured  a  little  white  fluid  into  each  bottle,  then 
disappeared  into  the  rank  undergrowth. 

1  'Did  you  do  it?"  asked  Gaines,  when  Klein 
returned.  "Yep,  it  vas  easy."  The  men  walked 
rapidly  to  the  beach,  boarded  their  boat  and  pushed 
off  toward  Manila.  Klein  had  retreated  just  in  time, 
for  the  boys  began  to  drink  their  soda  again. 

After  the  lunch  was  eaten  the  men  lay  around 
under  the  trees,  smoked  and  told  stories.  "I  feel  a 
little  bit  sleepy,  Ned,"  said  Ray,  "let's  go  into  the 
Palace  and  take  a  nap."  "All  right,  I'm  sleepy,  too ; 
I  wonder  what  makes  us  so  sleepy?"  "I  can't 
imagine."  So  the  two  boys  climbed  up  some  old 
stairs  and  lay  down  on  some  eucalyptus  leaves  and 
were  soon  journeying  into  slumber  land. 

Gaines  and  Klein  did  not  go  to  Manila,  however, 
but  returned  and  secreted  themselves  in  a  tiny  cove, 
where  they  tied  up  their  boat  and  indulged  in  a  quiet 
bottle  and  "Dick  Dare's  Strange  Adventures;  or 
The  Mystic  Man."  Suddenly  Gaines  looked  at  his 
watch;  "five  o'clock,  Klein;  we'd  better  be  moving." 

The  launch  grounded  ashore  promptly  at  five 
o'clock,  but  Ned  and  Ray  did  not  appear  and  a  gen- 
eral search  was  started,  but  as  it  soon  gets  dark  in 
the  tropics  the  search  had  to  be  abandoned.  The 


48  GOOD'S     BUDGET 


men  would  have  liked  to  stay  and  hunt  longer  but 
they  were  already  late  for  the  show,  so  just  as  the 
golden  sun  began  disappearing  over  the  purple-hued 
mountains,  the  launch  steamed  down  the  bay,  and 
two  men  steathily  climbed  the  stairs  of  the  old 
palace.  "Take  this  one  first,  Klein,"  said  Gaines, 
pointing  to  Ned. 

They  picked  Ned  up  and  carried  him  down  the 
stairs  into  a  room  which  had  evidently  been  used  as 
a  dungeon  in  the  days  of  the  Moro  kings.  Next 
Kay  was  brought  down  and  placed  beside  Ned. 
"Now,  get  the  stuff,  Klein,"  said  Gaines.  Klein 
withdrew  and  returned  with  a  large  cask  of  water; 
then  he  brought  in  bread,  some  canned  meat  and 
vegetables;  then  the  two  withdrew,  firmly  locking 
the  door. 

It  was  morning  when  Ned  awoke.  For  some 
moments  he  could  not  collect  his  thoughts.  Then 
he  waked  Ray  and  they  made  an  inspection  of  the 
dungeon.  Two  small  iron-barred  windows  let  in 
the  light  and  air.  The  door  was  of  heavy  oak, 
studded  with  spikes.  "We're  caught,  Ned,  that's 
sure,  but  by  whom?  It's  my  opinion  we  were 
drugged." 

Ray  knit  his  brows  in  deep  thought,  but  could  not 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  49 

think  of  anyone  likely  to  do  such  a  trick,  and  con- 
cluded it  must  be  someone  from  the  circus.  As  he 
could  arrive  at  no  definite  suspicion,  he  said  nothing. 
"I'll  tell  you  one  thing  though,  Ned.  We've  got  to 
get  out  and  that  pretty  quick.  We've  missed  the 
parade,  and  durn  them  lobsters,  I'd  like  to  have  'em 
like  that!"  and  Ray  took  hold  of  Ned's  collar  and 
shook  his  fist  in  his  face.  "Don't  get  excited,  Ray. 
Let's  see — I've  tried  the  doors  and  bars,  and  of 
course  they're  locked." 

They  kicked  the  door,  pounded  it  with  their  fists, 
and  threw  large  stones  at  it,  but  it  refused  to  budge 
from  its  solid  hinges.  They  next  tried  to  loosen  the 
bars  of  the  windows,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  "It's  four 
o'clock — we  must  hurry  and  get  out,  someway!" 
"Couldn't  we  dig  under  the  walls?"  "It  would 
take  all  night  to  do  it  and  we  must  get  out  tonight, 
but  if  we  don't  succeed  some  other  way,  we'll  go 
to  digging.  Meanwhile,  I'm  going  to  take  this  old 
board  and  try  to  knock  a  bar  loose."  This  also 
proved  useless,  and  the  boys  sat  down  in  despair. 
But  Ned  soon  got  up,  saying,  "The  door  is  our 
only  hope  and  we  must  knock  it  down."  So  saying, 
he  got  a  large  boulder  and  threw  it  with  all  the 
force  he  could  muster,  and  after  repeated  charges 


50  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

the  boys  managed  to  make  the  door  give  a  little. 
"We're  getting  her,  Ned!"  "Yep,"  was  all  Ned 
said.  They  kept  right  at  it,  pausing  now  and  then 
to  rest.  First  Ned  picked  up  a  large  boulder  and 
threw  it  at  the  door,  while  Ray  was  getting  one, 
and  thus  in  turn  they  kept  up  a  steady  fire.  It  was 
hard  work  and  the  boys  wiped  many  a  drop  of  sweat 
from  face  and  forehead. 

"It  seems  to  me,  Ray,  if  we  could  fix  some  kind 
of  a  battering  ram,  it  would  be  better."  "But  we 
can't — we  ain't  got  no  battering  ram,  so  the  best 
thing  to  do  is  to  smash  the  lock,  and  then  if  she 
don't  give  we'll  keep  right  on."  Ned  looked  at  his 
watch  and  found  it  to  be  twenty  minutes  after  five. 
Just  as  the  sun  went  down  the  lock  gave  way  and 
the  door  swung  open. 

They  ran  down  to  the  beach  but  the  launch  had 
gone,  so  they  built  a  large  fire  and  fell  asleep.  When 
they  awoke  it  was  light.  The  boys  looked  in  vain 
for  a  boat  and  it  was  not  until  noon  that  the  launch 
appeared  and  they  were  conveyed  back  to  Manila. 
They  went  at  once  and  told  their  story  to  the  boss. 
"As  your  reputations  are  pretty  good,  I'll  let  you 
off  this  time,  boys,"  he  said,  and  they  thanked  him 
and  went  about  their  duties. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  51 

The  next  day  was  their  last  in  Manila,  so  Ned  and 
Ray  made  the  most  of  it  in  fun  and  sight-seeing. 
While  hurrying  down  a  side  street  late  in  the  after- 
noon, on  their  way  back  to  the  ship,  Ned  noticed  a 
forlorn-looking  dog,  a  small  terrier,  following  close 
to  his  heels.  He  stopped  to  pet  it  and  then,  with 
a  stamp  of  his  foot,  ordered  it  to  "Go  back  home, 
now."  The  dog  reluctantly  turned  back,  but  when 
the  boys  reached  the  dock  Ned  heard  a  pleading 
whine  and  looked  down  into  a  pair  of  expressive 
brown  eyes,  which  were  asking  as  plainly  as  ever 
words  could,  "Won't  you  take  me  with  you?"  Ned 
examined  the  dog's  collar  and  found  it  engraved 
with  the  name,  "Toby",  but  nothing  by  which  he 
could  identify  the  owner,  so  he  concluded  that  the 
dog  was  lost  and  that  he  would  be  justified  in  taking 
him.  He  obtained  permission  from  the  captain  to 
take  Toby  aboard,  and  the  little  dog  soon  became  a 
great  favorite  with  all  on  board  and  a  great  comfort 
to  Ned,  when  moments  of  homesickness  would  steal 
upon  him.  The  next  morning  Ned  went  to  the  post- 
office  and  received  a  letter  from  his  father,  in  which 
he  said  that  a  man  named  Warner  had  offered  to 
buy  his  mining  stock.  Ned  thought  a  long  while 
and  then  sat  down  and  wrote  to  his  father  to  hang 


52  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

on  to  it  for  dear  life,  as  he  had  his  reasons.  He  had 
always  believed  that  George  Drake  meant  to  cheat 
his  father,  though  he  pretended  to  be  Mr.  Winter's 
friend  in  his  efforts  to  get  a  home  of  his  own,  and 
gain  through  his  mining  speculations.  The  attempt 
of  some  mysterious  persons  to  imprison  Ned,  followed 
by  the  offer  for  the  mining  stock,  now  appeared  to 
Ned  to  have  some  possible  connection  and  set  him 
to  thinking.  He  came  to  no  definite  conclusion,  how- 
ever, and  dismissed  the  subject  from  his  mind  for 
the  time  after  mailing  his  letter. 

The  show  packed  up  that  day  and  embarked  on 
the  steamer  "Dolphin".  "Do  you  know  where  we 
are  bound  for,  Ray?"  asked  Ned  that  evening,  after 
their  work  was  done.  "No,  I  don't;  let's  go  ask  the 
captain."  The  two  boys  hunted  up  the  captain,  asked 
him,  and  found  that  they  were  bound  for  Hong 
Kong,  China.  "Now,  why  in  the  name  of  Mike  is 
Berry  goin'  there?"  ejaculated  Ray.  "Well,  didn't 
he  make  money  in  Manila?  And  as  his  is  the  first 
show  out,  Borough  said,  'Go  ahead',  and  I  think 
Berry '11  make  it  pay." 

Ray  and  Ned  sat  up  till  midnight.  It  was  one  of 
those  hot,  tropical  nights  and  there  was  a  full  moon. 
Ned  started  to  sing,  "Under  the  Tropical  Moon- 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  53 

light".  Ray  joined  in  and  when  they  had  finished 
there  was  a  loud  clapping  in  the  rear.  The  boys 
turned  and  found  quite  a  crowd  of  circus  hands 
mixed  with  the  sailors.  "Give  us  some  more,  kids. 
That's  fine!"  came  the  calls  of  encouragement.  The 
two  boys  turned  in  surprise,  but  seeing  no  way  out 
of  it,  sang  "Mandy  Lane"  and  "Somewhere",  then 
"Under  the  Tropical  Moonlight"  again. 

For  six  days  the  boat  plied  her  big  steel  nose  into 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  On  the  morning  of  the 
sixth  day  land  was  sighted,  and  about  five  o'clock 
the  quarantine  officers  of  Hong  Kong  came  on  board, 
found  everything  all  right  and  let  the  Dolphin  land 
her  freight  and  passengers.  It  took  two  whole  days 
to  land  and  set  up  the  tent. 

The  show  was  to  stay  at  Hong  Kong  three  days, 
the  same  length  of  tune  at  Canton  and  the  same  at 
Peking,  the  capital. 

Some  of  the  more  educated  Chinese  came  to  the 
show  the  first  night  and  there  was  a  fair-sized  audi- 
ence. All  the  next  day  Ned  enjoyed  a  visit  to  the 
British-Chinese  port,  and  that  evening  received  two 
months'  pay — $48  in  all,  which  he  sent  to  his  father, 
advising  him  to  buy  more  mining  stock  if  he  could. 
He  said  he  believed  the  Alaskan  to  be  a  valuable 


54  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

mine  and  that  the  price  of  shares  was  double  what 
they  were  reported  in  Coleville. 

While   Ned   is   having   adventures   and   pleasures 
in  foreign  lands,  let  us  return  to  Coleville. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Doings  In  Coleville. 

Upon  receiving  Ned's  letter  and  money,  Mr.  Win- 
ter decided  to  follow  his  son's  advice,  after  con- 
ferring with  Mrs.  Winter.  So  he  casually  walked 
up  to  Mr.  Drake's  house  on  Maple  Street.  He  was 
shown  into  Mr.  Drake's  private  office.  "Ah!  Mr. 
Winter,  how  are  you?"  Mr.  Drake  said  in  an  affable 
manner.  "Good  morning.  You  still  have  some  of 
the  stock  left?"  "What  stock?"  answered  Mr. 
Drake  in  an  offhand  way.  "The  Alaska  Mining 
Stock."  "Oh,  yes,  yes;  just  a  moment."  He  re- 
turned from  another  room  with  the  stock  in  his  hand. 
"How  much  do  you  want?"  "Fifty  dollars'  worth." 
"Indeed !  All  right,  that  gives  you  just  200  shares." 
1  i  My,  it  has  gone  up ! "  "  Yes — let  me  see,  you  had 
4000  shares;  that  makes  your  present  holding  4200 
shares. ' ' 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  55 

Mr.  Drake  took  Mr.  Winter's  money  and  was  about 
to  put  the  stock  in  a  drawer,  when  Mr.  Winter  said, 
' '  I  think  I  '11  keep  it  myself,  Drake. "  "  Ah— er,  just 
as  you  say ;  but  oh,  Winter,  don 't  you  think  you  had 
better  pay  a  little — er — on  the  house,  instead  of 
buying  stock?"  "That's  my  business,  and  as  long 
as  I  pay  you  every  month  and  the  interest,  you've 
no  kick  coming,"  and  Mr.  Winter  picked  up  his  hat 
and  strode  out  of  the  room. 

"By  jinks,  why  does  he  want  that  stuff?  I'd  for- 
gotten all  about  how  much  he  had.  I  do  hope  Pete 
and  Jim  bag  the  youngster.  He  knows  all  about  the 
mine,  I  think.  Anyhow,  he  mustn't  testify  against 
me  for  the  Insurance  Company." 

When  Ned  was  about  twelve  years  old  and  his 
youngest  sister  was  very  ill,  his  mother  had  told 
him  to  get  the  doctor.  After  calling  on  the  doctor, 
who  said  he  would  come  as  soon  as  he  could,  Ned 
started  to  walk  home  alone.  On  his  way  home  he 
had  to  pass  an  old  house  not  worth  the  insurance, 
and  as  he  approached  it  he  saw  a  man  walk  hurriedly 
across  the  street.  As  he  did  so  something  shiny  fell 
out  of  his  pocket,  but  he  did  not  notice  it  as  he 
walked  right  on.  Ned  withdrew  some  distance  and 
watched  him  go  up  to  a  small  pile  of  shavings  and 


56  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

then  fumble  around  in  his  pocket.  "  Where  is  that 
matchsaf e  ? ' '  he  muttered.  He  finally  found  a  match 
in  his  pocket,  but  without  waiting  to  watch  any 
longer  Ned  picked  up  the  matchsafe  and  ran  home. 
In  about  ten  minutes  the  fire-bells  rang.  Ned  did  not 
go  to  the  fire,  and  the  next  day  gave  the  matchsafe 
to  his  mother.  It  was  a  common  nickle  safe,  full  of 
matches.  Mrs.  Winter  laid  it  away  and  forgot  all 
about  it,  as  had  Ned. 

George  Drake,  for  it  was  he  who  had  set  on  fire 
this  old  house  which  belonged  to  him,  kept  the  news 
of  his  difficulties  with  the  Insurance  Company  to 
himself.  He  had  insured  the  building  heavily  and 
wanted  full  insurance,  which  they  refused  to  give, 
though  they  had  paid  him  part  of  it.  The  matter 
had  been  dropped  for  a  year  and  was  now  being 
renewed  by  the  Insurance  Company. 

One  day  soon  after  the  fire  the  boys  planned  to  go 
for  a  row  on  the  lake,  to  end  with  a  picnic.  They 
always  took  matches  along,  and  Ned's  mother  had 
given  him  the  matchsafe  to  use.  A  man  down  at  the 
lake  asked  for  a  match,  and  Ned  took  out  his  match- 
safe  and  gave  him  a  couple.  George  Drake,  who 
was  standing  near,  saw  the  matchsafe  and  recognized 
it  as  the  one  he  had  lost  that  day.  Mr.  Winter  had 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  57 

told  him  about  Ned  seeing  a  man  at  the  house  before 
the  fire,  but  had  said  nothing  about  the  matchsafe. 
This  was  one  reason  why  Mr.  Drake  had  tried  to  get 
rid  of  Ned,  and  besides,  Ned  was  always  trying  to 
influence  his  father  in  downing  Mr.  Drake. 

That  night  Mr.  Drake  sat  in  his  fine  parlor  con- 
gratulating himself  as  the  treasurer  of  the  Globe 
Mills,  when  the  door-bell  rang  and  a  messenger  boy 
was  ushered  in  by  a  servant.  "A  telegram,  sir." 
"Ah,  yes/'  Mr.  Drake  tore  the  envelope  open  and 
as  he  read  the  message  his  jaw  dropped  and  he  sat 
down  weakly  in  a  chair,  paid  the  messenger  and 
began  thinking.  If  the  mosquito,  which  had  alighted 
on  the  paper  in  his  hand,  had  had  human  intelligence 
and  eyes,  he  would  have  read  these  words : 

"Dawson  City,  July  18th, , 

"George  Drake,  Esq., 

"Keep  stock — large  vein  found — buy. 

STETSON." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Ned  Has  Some  Adventures  in  China  and  Leaves  the 
Circus. 

The  show  finished  its  engagement  in  Hong  Kong, 
packed  up  and  left  for  Canton.    During  his  leisure 


58  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

time  Ned  enjoyed  exploring  the  different  parts  of 
the  quaint  Chinese  City.  He  liked  to  study  the 
Chinese,  their  customs  and  ways  of  living,  and  as 
he  wandered  about  the  streets,  he  bought  trinket 
after  trinket  until  he  had  a  large  box  of  Chinese  orna- 
ments, pictures  and  pieces  of  bric-a-brac,  the  most 
of  which  he  sent  home.  Sometimes  he  took  Toby, 
the  dog,  with  him  and  once  he  found  an  American 
photographer  and  had  a  picture  of  himself  and  Toby 
taken  to  send  home. 

Ned  had  noticed  a  young  Chinaman  constantly 
hanging  around  the  show  grounds.  Finally,  on  the 
last  day  of  the  show's  stay  in  Canton,  he  came  up  to 
Ned  and  said,  "You  get  me  job,"  "I  don't  know — 
I  am  not  the  boss,"  replied  Ned.  "You  see  boss. 
Me  strong.  Me  been  in  Amerka  two  months."  "I'll 
try,"  and  Ned  walked  away.  "You  good  Melkan — 
Quong  Lee  not  forget,"  the  Chinaman  called  after 
him.  That  afternoon  Ned  asked  Mr.  Berry.  "He 
seems  earnest  and  can  talk  pretty  good  English," 
he  said.  "Oh,  I  guess  he  can  come  on,  if  Jake  and 
the  boys  don't  mind.  I'll  get  Jake  to  give  you  four 
more  ponies  and  let  the  'chink'  learn."  "All  right, 
thank  you,  sir,"  and  Ned  went  away  to  find  Jake, 
who  was  agreeable,  if  the  boys  were.  Quite  a  dis- 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  59 

cussion  went  on  among  the  men  in  regard  to  allow- 
ing the  " chink"  to  come  in.  Finally  one  said,  "If 
he'll  doff  his  'chink'  clothes  and  mind  his  business, 
we  are  agreeable." 

Ned  told  Quong  Lee,  who  was  overjoyed,  but 
pulled  a  long  face  when  Ned  mentioned  American 
clothes.  "Me  not  got  a  cash."  "I'll  lend  you  some 
cash.  Meet  me  here  in  half  an  hour  and  well  get 
the  suit  of  clothes  and  hat. ' '  Ned  finished  work  and 
then  went  with  Lee  to  a  second-hand  dealer  in  clothes 
and  fitted  him  out  with  underwear,  gray  suit,  felt 
hat,  shoes,  stockings,  shirt  and  ties.  "How  much?" 
asked  Lee.  "Ten  dollars,"  answered  Ned,  "and 
here's  some  cash  to  spend."  He  handed  the  celes- 
tial ten  long  strings,  on  which  were  twenty  pieces  of 
brass  money,  each  with  a  hole  in  the  middle.  This 
is  commonly  called  "cash",  twenty  of  these  pieces 
making  an  American  cent.  They  are  put  on  strings, 
so  that  they  may  be  carried  more  easily.  A  war  cor- 
respondent came  over  into  Manchuria  for  the  first 
time  and  expected  to  find  the  money  similar  to  that 
of  any  other  country,  so  told  one  of  his  escorts  to 
change  two  dollars-and-a-half  into  Chinese  money, 
then  used  in  the  disputed  country.  His  escort  took 
the  money,  hurried  away  and  presently  returned 


60  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


drawing  a  large  handcart  full  of  money.  The  corre- 
spondent was  astonished.  He  took  some  of  the 
money,  leaving  the  rest  where  it  had  been  dumped, 
and  departed  for  the  interior.  When  he  returned  it 
was  gone. 

That  night  Lee  went  on  duty,  and  worked  hard  at 
everything  he  was  given  to  do.  The  next  morning 
they  started  for  Peking,  playing  at  some  of  the 
towns  on  the  way.  They  arrived  at  Peking  in  two 
weeks,  where  they  were  billed  to  play  for  five  days. 
Nothing  of  importance  happened  at  Peking,  and  soon 
the  circus  packed  up  again  and  began  a  tour  of  the 
small  villages,  using  the  wagons  as  a  means  of  trans- 
portation. 

At  Kaku,  quite  a  large  town,  Ned  decided  to  leave 
the  show.  He  had  been  with  it  nearly  four  months, 
and  was  very  tired  of  circus  life.  He  saw  no  chance 
for  promotion  of  any  kind,  either  in  wages  or  posi- 
tion. He  told  Lee,  who  pulled  a  long  face.  He  was 
enjoying  the  circus  life  of  three  square  meals  a  day, 
a  good  bed  and  some  time  to  himself.  "I'm  not 
going  for  a  while,  but  I  am  awfully  sick  of  this  daily 
routine/'  said  Ned.  "When  you  think  you  go?" 
1  'In  about  a  week."  "I  go  with  you.  Don't  want 
to  stay  with  show.  You  go,  I  go."  "All  right; 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  61 

you  see,  Quong,  the  show  leaves  for  India  next  week. 
I  don't  want  to  go  to  India — not  yet;  so  I'm  going 
to  quit." 

So  the  next  week  Ned  and  Quong  told  their  friends 
good-bye,  and  departed  for  Yuen  Sing,  quite  a  town 
on  the  Hoang  Ho.  Ned  disliked  the  slow,  rickety 
Chinese  train,  while  Quong  thought  it  a  luxury,  as 
he  did  not  often  have  enough  cash  to  ride  on  a  train. 
At  Chung  Kia  they  changed  to  a  slow  river  boat, 
propelled  by  men  with  long  poles. 

On  all  sides  of  them  were  the  Chinese  junks  with 
their  matting  sails  and  awkward  hulls.  Regular 
houses  were  built  on  some  of  the  boats  and  children 
were  playing  on  them.  There  are  so  many  people  in 
China  that  they  can't  all  live  on  the  land,  so  some 
live  on  the  water. 

Ned  still  had  Toby.  He  was  not  hard  to  carry 
along,  and  the  Chinese  looked  in  wonder  at  the 
American  boy  who  paid  so  much  attention  to  his 
dog.  Some  of  the  Chinese  mothers  pay  little  more 
attention  to  their  children.  They  have  a  barrel  tied 
around  them  so  that  if  they  fall  in  they  will  float  till 
some  one  pulls  them  out.  They  live  mostly  on  fish 
and  rudely  cooked  rice  cakes.  The  land  Chinese 
have  small  gardens,  which  they  call  farms,  and  they 


62  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


live  mostly  from  them.    Workmen  in  China  receive 
on  an  average  ten  cents  a  day. 

"Tell  me  something  about  yourself,  Quong,"  said 
Ned,  after  they  had  finished  their  supper  of  rice 
cakes  and  fish,  eaten  from  home-made  Chinese  pot- 
tery. " Well/'  said  Quong,  finally,  "I  will.  The  Lee 
family  was  once  considered  high  in  Lang  Feng  Wo. 
My  father  rich  and  held  the  title  of  Colonel  in  the 
army.  One  day  Lem  Wong  Si,  another  rich  man, 
come  and  say  my  father  take  money  he  held  for  the 
town.  They  put  up  false  evidence  and  my  father 
was  hanged.  This  happened  when  I  was  eighteen 
years  old.  When  I  was  sixteen  my  father  had  sent 
me  to  America  to  study.  That's  where  I  learn  the 
language.  When  I  been  there  two  months  he  wrote 
me  to  come  home.  Just  after  I  get  home  they  hang 
my  father.  My  mother  die.  The  family  scatter. 
Lem  Wong  Si  take  our  house,  furnishings,  every- 
thing. He  take  land,  stock,  all — and  we  swear  ven- 
geance— my  brothers.  Lem  Wong  Si  live  in  Lang 
Teng  Wo  now.  He  got  small  chair  that  got  paper 
tell  where  his  cash  is."  "Yes,  I  see;  this  paper  tells 
where  your  father  hid  his  money,"  said  Ned,  con- 
siderably interested.  "Yes,  yes,  that's  it.  Now  we 
meet  Wang  Ling  Lee  in  Lang  Teng  Wo  and  we  get 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  63 

chair,  dig  money  and  go  away."  This  was  tempting 
to  the  youth,  so  he  finally  said,  "Yes,  I'll  do  it, 
Quong.  I  hear  they  kill  Americans  in  Lang  Teng 
Wo."  "Yes,  you  dress  Chinese;  play  deaf -dumb; 
they  no  know."  "All  right,  I'll  go.  I  am  going  to 
bed — good-night." 

The  next  morning  Ned  got  up  early  because  he 
wanted  to  see  as  much  of  the  river  and  boats  as  pos- 
sible. After  awhile  he  and  Lee  got  to  talking  over 
their  plans — when  to  try  and  get  the  chair,  where 
the  money  might  be,  their  chances  of  success,  etc., 
when  suddenly  Ned  said,  "What  can  I  do  with 
Toby?"  "Oh,"  said  Lee,  with  a  look  of  anxiety  on 
his  face,  "I  don't  know — don't  know  anyone  there 
any  more,"  pointing  to  Lang  Teng  Wo.  They  sat 
for  awhile  thinking,  when  Ned  said,  "Couldn't  we 
leave  him  with  some  American  merchant?"  "We 
can  try."  "You  see,  Lee,  I  don't  want  to  lose  Toby. 
I  like  him  very  much."  "Uh-huh!  I  see."  Quong 
Lee  thought  very  little  of  dogs,  thinking  them  good 
for  nothing  but  to  feed — which  is  true  in  some  cases. 

The  next  morning  they  reached  the  Chinese  town 
and  at  once  went  to  a  barber's,  for  both  needed  a 
hair-cut.  Then  they  went  and  found  Lee's  brother 
Wang.  Ned  was  introduced,  and,  to  his  surprise, 


64  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


saw  Wang  vigorously  shaking  hands  with  himself. 
Soon  the  brothers  began  talking  Chinese,  and  Ned 
knew  that  they  were  discussing  whether  he  could  be 
trusted  or  not.  Finally  it  was  decided,  and  Ned 
knew  that  they  considered  him  all  right  by  the  looks 
on  their  faces. 

As  they  walked  along  the  narrow  Chinese  street, 
Ned  asked  Quong  in  English  why  his  people  always 
shook  hands  with  themselves  when  they  met  a  person. 
Quong  explained  that  it  was  an  old  custom  which 
prevailed  throughout  the  land  from  north  to  south. 

Presently  the  two  celestials  began  talking  Chinese 
again,  when  suddenly  from  up  the  street  there  came 
a  shout.  Some  men  were  running  with  whips  in 
their  hands  whipping  the  people  out  for  a  roadway. 
Following  in  the  wake  of  the  whipsters,  over  the  road 
they  had  made  through  the  mass  of  humanity,  came 
a  carriage  drawn  by  twelve  Chinamen.  Everyone 
bowed,  including  the  Chinese  friends  of  Ned.  Ned 
stood  upright  and  the  face  of  a  Chinaman  was  poked 
out  of  one  of  the  little  side  windows  of  the  vehicle. 
Ned  said  afterwards  that  he  had  never  seen  such  an 
ugly  face  before  in  his  life.  It  was  brutal  and  pig- 
pish — a  peculiar  shaped  head,  large  nose  and  the 
most  piggish  eyes  he  had  ever  seen  in  a  human  being. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  65 

On  his  cheeks  and  forehead  were  blotches  of  red 
and  purple  caused  by  over-eating.  Ned  saw  all  this 
in  an  instant.  Soon  the  procession  passed  and  every- 
one arose  again.  "That's  him,  the  fiend,"  said  Quong 
to  Ned,  as  soon  as  the  crowd  had  thinned  again. 
Ned  said  nothing,  but  thought  that  two  humble 
Chinamen  and  one  young  American  would  have  a 
hard  time  to  get  anything  from  so  powerful  a  man 
as  Lem  Wong  Si  appeared  to  be. 

"Pretty  big  bug,  Lee?"  "Yes,  big— I  show  you 
house."  Ned  did  not  excite  much  attention  on  the 
street,  there  being  quite  a  few  foreigners  in  Lang 
Teng  Wo.  After  a  walk  of  a  few  more  blocks  they 
came  in  sight  of  Lem  Wong  Si's  mansion.  It  was  a 
large  house  with  stables  in  the  rear.  Ned  took  in  the 
situation  as  best  he  could  before  they  left  for  Wang 's 
house. 

Quong 's  brother  lived  in  a  house  made  of  adobe 
bricks,  plastered  rudely  together  with  mud.  The 
roof  was  made  of  branches  of  trees — willows  and 
other  shrubbery.  The  house  consisted  of  one  large 
room.  In  the  center  near  the  wall  was  a  hole  in  the 
ground,  banked  up  by  the  adobe  bricks.  This  was 
where  they  cooked.  There  were  no  windows,  but 
some  light  came  in  through  the  hole  in  the  top,  made 


66  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


to  let  the  smoke  out,  and  through  the  open  doorway. 
They  had  no  door,  but  piled  some  logs  up  against  the 
doorway  at  night. 

Ned  was  introduced  to  Wang's  wife  in  the  quaint 
Chinese  way,  and  she  bashfully  shook  hands  with 
herself.  Ned  did  the  same  and  Wang  seemed  over- 
joyed at  seeing  him  adopt  their  custom.  They  had 
supper  in  homemade  dishes.  The  children  were 
forced  to  wait;  though  the  brothers  were  poor  they 
could  not  forget  their  early  training.  The  supper 
consisted  of  fish,  rice,  rice  cakes  and  some  figs. 
After  the  supper,  Ned  took  all  of  Wang's  children 
down  town  and  bought  them  nuts  and  playthings. 
The  children  were  profuse  in  their  thanks,  which 
were  sincere. 

The  next  day  the  three  conspirators  drew  up  some 
plans.  Quong  was  to  go  to  Lem  Si's  house  as  ser- 
vant, find  out  where  the  chair  was,  get  it  if  he  could 
and  escape,  Ned  and  Wang  waiting  at  the  appointed 
time  in  the  grounds  to  get  the  chair  and  run.  It  was 
a  bold  plan,  especially  for  Quong,  who  insisted  that 
he  should  be  the  one  to  get  the  chair.  This  settled — 
the  next  thing  to  do  was  to  set  the  time.  It  was 
arranged  that  when  Quong  should  show  himself  at 
a  certain  window,  the  others  were  to  know  that  was 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  67 

the  night  he  would  attempt  to  escape  with  the  chair. 
They  were  to  take  turns  watching,  as  Quong  could 
not  know  when  he  would  find  the  chair.  He  ex- 
plained this  first  to  Ned  in  English  and  then  to  Wang 
in  Chinese.  "You  know  the  chair,  don't  you?" 
asked  Ned.  "Yes,  little  black  chair  with  ivory  tips 
on  arms  and  legs."  After  talking  a  little  longer  Ned 
coaxed  Quong  to  tell  him  a  Chinese  story,  while 
Wang  smoked  the  new  pipe  Quong  had  brought  with 
him.  Thus  the  day  passed  away  in  the  crowded 
Chinese  hut. 

Wang  had  a  garden  at  his  "farm"  and  Ned  gave 
him  some  American  ideas  on  the  production  of  sugar- 
cane, a  subject  with  which  he  was  familiar.  The  next 
day  he  went  to  see  something  of  the  town,  while 
Quong  applied  for  a  position  as  servant  in  Lem  Si's 
mansion.  A  large  Chinaman,  evidently  the  boss  of 
the  servants,  came  to  the  door  and  asked  him  much 
he  would  work  for.  Five  hundred  cash  a  week,  sir," 
said  the  humble  Quong  Lee,  in  Chinese.  This  seemed 
to  please  the  boss,  so  Ije  hired  Quong,  who  began 
work  immediately. 

Ned  wandered  aimlessly  about  the  old  city  and 
finally  espied  an  automobile  driven  by  an  American. 
This  made  him  feel  at  home  again  for  awhile.  He 


68  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

then  went  out  to  an  old  Chinese  fort,  probably  used 
against  revolutionists.  When  he  got  back  to  Wang's 
house  he  was  very  tired.  "Has  Quong  got  back 
yet  ?"  he  asked  of  Wang,  gesticulating  with  his  hands 
to  show  what  he  meant.  '  *  No, ' '  Wang  finally  replied, 
"he  say  no  come  back — get  place."  "Yes,  I  see. 
All  right,  we'd  better  watch  now,"  replied  Ned, 
using  his  hands  again  in  gesture. 

So,  accordingly,  the  next  day  Ned,  arrayed  in 
Chinese  costume,  hair  shaved,  false  pig-tail,  etc., 
made  his  way  through  the  crowded  streets  to  the 
vicinity  of  Lena  Si's  mansion.  He  hung  around  all 
day  but  no  sign  appeared.  Once  a  Chinaman,  who 
wanted  to  be  congenial  said,  "Good  morning" 
(though  Ned  did  not  understand  what  he  said). 
Ned's  heart  almost  stopped  beating,  but  he  made 
signs  that  he  was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  the  congenial 
Chinaman  passed  on  with  a  sympathetic  look.  Ned 
told  himself  that  this  was  a  "close  call",  so  he  did 
not  look  into  anyone's  face  again.  Nothing  hap- 
pened all  day,  and  when  Wang  came  home  that  night 
he  reported  the  same  thing.  Of  course,  they  hardly 
looked  for  a  sign  from  Quong  so  soon,  and  so  the 
days  dragged  on.  Ned  was  making  no  money,  so 
he  told  Quong  one  night  that  he'd  better  hurry  up. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  69 

Quong  said  he  would  try  that  night,  so  Ned  went 
down  to  an  American  store  and  bought  a  revolver, 
and  now  for  the  first  time  he  realized  how  foolish 
he  had  been  to  get  into  a  Chinese  family  feud,  but 
he  consoled  himself  by  saying,  "111  not  back  down 
now,  just  at  the  last  moment." 

About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  it  began  to 
rain,  and  there  were  so  few  people  on  the  street 
that  Ned  knew  it  would  be  easier  to  escape  from 
the  palace  grounds.  He  took  his  post,  as  he  had 
on  other  nights,  and  waited.  He  saw  a  few  twink- 
ling lights  in  the  large  house,  and  rightly  guessed 
that  the  Mandarin  was  retiring.  Ned  walked  slowly 
up  and  down  the  dismal  Chinese  street,  listening 
to  the  steady  patter  of  the  raindrops  on  the  leaves 
of  the  trees  overhead,  now  and  then  returning  to 
his  hiding  place  behind  the  grounds  of  the  mansion. 
While  Ned  is  impatiently  doing  this,  let  us  wit- 
ness some  of  the  scenes  inside  the  mansion. 

Quong  did  not  stay  at  the  mansion  all  the  time. 
He  had  a  bed  in  the  barn  and  slept  there  part  of 
the  time.  The  majority  of  Chinese  servants  are  lazy 
and  shiftless.  Quong  took  advantage  of  this  and 
did  his  work  well,  so  instead  of  being  a  common 
servant,  he  became  one  of  his  Excellency's  pages 


70  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


or  body  servants.  So  since  his  promotion  he  had 
had  many  chances  to  look  wistfully  at  the  stool,  for 
it  was  not  a  chair  but  quite  a  large  footstool.  He 
lifted  it  ^  once  to  the  Mandarin  and  found  it  to  be 
quite  heavy.  Quong  was  busy  straightening  up  the 
room,  for  his  Excellency  was  to  have  company — a 
neighboring  Mandarin.  About  twelve  o'clock  Quong 
retired,  or  pretended  to,  but  he  really  hid  under  the 
Mandarin's  bed.  All  the  body-servants  retired  and 
Quong  went  with  them  to  the  door,  where  he  stepped 
behind  the  door  curtain.  The  sentry  or  guard  came 
and  put  out  the  lights,  and  as  he  went  out  Quong 
slipped  in.  The  sentry  always  came  back  at  one 
o'clock  and  again  at  two,  and  then  retired  for  the 
night.  Quong  knew  this,  and  so  between  one  and 
two  o'clock  he  crept  out  and  picked  up  the  stool, 
opened  a  window  on  to  a  balcony,  where  he  gave 
an  imitation  of  an  owl  hooting.  This  he  repeated 
twice,  when  it  was  answered  from  the  wood.  Ned 
crept  up  to  the  balcony,  gave  a  signal  and  Quong 
dropped  the  stool  and  climbed  down  after  it.  Ned 
caught  it  deftly  and  helped  Quong  down.  Then 
they  crept  stealthily  toward  the  wood  and  were  al- 
most out  when  they  were  challenged  in  Chinese. 
"We  came  the  wrong  way",  whispered  Quong.  Then 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  71 

he  answered  the  challenge,  "Friends — don't  shoot, " 
he  added  quickly,  as  he  heard  the  click  of  a  gun. 
It  was  so  dark  you  could  not  see  your  hand  before 
you,  and  as  they  were  near  a  tree,  Ned  put  the 
stool  up  into  it  and  swung  himself  after  it  just 
as  the  sentry  came  up  to  Quong.  "Who  are  you 
and  what  are  you  doing  here?"  asked  the  sentry 
in  Chinese.  "I  am  Pik  Tu  and  I  am  deserting," 
answered  Quong.  He  had  changed  his  name  when 
he  went  into  a  servant's  office.  "Come  with  me," 
said  the  sentry,  and  Ned  was  left  alone. 

As  soon  as  Quong  had  gone,  Ned  climbed  down 
and  made  his  way  to  Wang's  house.  He  reported 
the  evening's  adventure  to  Wang  and  they  immedi- 
ately buried  the  stool  in  the  garden  to  wait  till 
Quong  came  home,  when  they  planned  to  dig  it  up 
and  examine  the  chart.  Having  buried  the  stool 
they  noiselessly  entered  the  house,  where  they  fell 
upon  their  mats  and  were  soon  asleep. 

Poor  Quong  had  a  very  different  time.  Upon  leav- 
ing the  tree  where  Ned  was  hiding  the  sentry  took 
Quong  to  the  barn,  where  he  was  locked  in.  The 
next  morning  he  was  taken  before  Lem  Wong  Si, 
the  Mandarin.  "Why  did  you  want  to  leave,  dog?" 
asked  Lem  Si,  sleepily.  "Because  an  American  said 


72  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

he  give  me  good  job;  so  I  leave  late  at  night."  "Oh, 
these  foreigners!  Could  I  but  crush  them!"  said 
Lem  Si  to  himself,  and  to  Quong,  "What  kind  of  a 
job,  traitor?"  "On  a  ship  at  Pekin."  All  this 
conversation  was  carried  on  in  Chinese  and  Quong 
was  next  asked,  "You  get  good  pay — you  want  to 

desert "  and  to  the  guards,  "Take  him  to  the 

stocks." 

Quong  was  led  away  and  a  large  wooden  collar 
was  put  on  his  neck.  It  weighed  about  twenty-five 
pounds  and  kept  its  occupant  in  pain  and  misery 
continually,  whether  sitting,  standing  or  lying  down. 
He  was  next  taken  with  his  wooden  collar  still  on 
to  a  small  place  under  some  trees  just  off  the  street, 
where  every  passer-by  could  see  him  and  the  other 
victims  in  the  stocks.  He  was  taken  there  every 
morning  and  back  to  the  barn  at  night.  On  his 
fourth  day  Ned,  now  dressed  in  his  own  American 
clothes,  saw  Quong,  and  a  moment  later  Quong  saw 
him.  Conversation  was  not  allowed  by  the  guards, 
who,  four  in  number,  had  large  clubs  and  each  a 
long  bolo  hanging  at  his  side.  Ned  knew,  as  did 
Quong,  that  these  guards  knew  their  business,  and 
that  open  escape  would  be  impossible.  They  ex- 
changed glances  and  Ned  passed  on.  By  his  look 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  73 

Quong  had  asked  Ned  if  the  stool  was  safe,  and 
Ned  had  replied,  "Yes."  Ned  went  home  and  told 
Wang,  and  they  both  decided  that  some  stratagem 
must  be  used.  At  two  o'clock  two  of  the  guards 
went  for  the  prisoners'  dinner,  while  two  remained. 
This  was  the  hottest  part  of  the  day,  and  as  it  gets 
very  warm,  few  people  venture  out  on  the  streets, 
and  Ned  noticed  that  the  two  remaining  guards 
became  very  lazy  and  sometimes  even  went  to  sleep 
before  the  others  returned.  So  he  and  Wang  de- 
cided that  at  this  time  only  must  they  attempt  to 
rescue  Quong.  Accordingly,  the  next  day,  as  the 
two  remaining  guards  were  arguing,  Ned  threw  a 
note  saying,  ''Escape  at  one  o'clock  any  day.  Will 
whistle  for  signal."  This  was  written  in  Chinese 
by  Wang,  and  was  not  signed.  Quong  nodded  and 
Ned  moved  away.  He  did  not  want  to  appear  too 
often  at  the  same  hour,  because  he  might  arouse  the 
suspicions  of  the  guards,  who,  like  all  their  race,  are 
suspicious  of  white  people,  whom  they  believe  to  be 
very  cunning,  dishonest  and  artful. 

Next  day  Ned  timed  how  long  the  two  guards 
were  gone.  The  following  morning  he  passed  again 
and  gave  a  long  whistle.  He  noticed  that  this  sur- 
prised the  passersby  and  the  guards  considerably, 


74  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


so  quickly  recovering  himself  he  began  to  whistle  a 
tune,  and  everybody  concluded  that  he  was  just  a 
crazy  American  whistling,  and  let  it  pass  unnoticed 
— all  but  one  person,  Quong,  who  knew  it  was  now 
or  never.  He  decided  to  run  quickly  as  he  could  to 
the  river,  find  a  boat,  if  possible,  and  escape  among 
the  crowd  of  Chinese  junks,  punts  and  scows. 
Wang  was  to  unloosen  Quong 's  collars  while  Ned 
engaged  the  two  guards  in  conversation.  Wang 
had  on  two  pairs  of  bloomers  or  trousers  and  two 
caps,  so  that  Quong  might  change  after  he  was 
freed  and  run  less  chance  of  being  noticed. 

The  time  for  the  escape  was  cleverly  planned, 
when  two  of  the  guards  were  away,  but  even  though 
plans  are  laid  to  perfection  they  sometimes  fail. 
Ned  and  his  friends  were  not  altogether  successful, 
as  you  will  see.  Wang  released  Quong,  and  while 
Ned  still  kept  the  guards  in  conversation,  Quong 
changed  his  clothes  and  vanished  down  the  street. 
He  was  running  full  speed  towards  the  wood  when 
when — smash!  bing!  "yeow!"  In  turning  a  cor- 
ner Quong  had  run  into  the  guards  who  were  re- 
turning with  the  bowls  of  rice.  The  hot  rice  was  in 
a  large  kettle,  and  when  Quong  crashed  into  the 
guards  they  spilled  it  all  over  themselves.  The  last 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  75 

sound  was  from  the  two  guards.  Quong  picked  up 
a  large  bowl,  and  hitting  one  of  the  Chinamen  on 
the  head  he  started  off  again.  The  noise  attracted 
the  other  guards,  who  sprang  up  and  ran  to  the 
assistance  of  their  companions  and  helped  them  to 
their  feet.  They  were  somewhat  stunned,  and  when 
they  at  last  started  in  pursuit,  Quong  had  reached 
the  wood.  Ned  and  Wang  had  vanished.  The  four 
guards  ran  in  hot  pursuit,  arousing  other  guards 
and  servants  on  the  way. 

After  hitting  the  Chinaman,  Quong  darted  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  wood  and  ran  as  he  had  never 
run  before,  straining  every  muscle.  After  entering 
the  wood  he  decided  to  climb  a  tree.  He  chose  a 
large  tree  with  many  limbs  and  as  soon  as  he  had 
reached  the  first  crotch  he  looked  up,  then  slipped 
and  fell  down.  It  was  all  black  about  him  and  he 
realized  that  he  was  in  a  hollow  tree  and  thought 
how  lucky  he  was;  but  he  had  hurt  his  wrist  and 
hand  and  they  pained  him  fearfully  for  awhile.  He 
soon  heard  the  hunting-mad  Chinese  guards.  More 
had  joined  their  number,  and  they  went  about 
searching  through  the  bushes  and  looking  up  into 
the  trees.  However,  they  soon  went  away  and  he 
was  left  alone. 


76  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

He  tried  to  climb  out,  but  could  not,  as  he  had 
fallen  further  than  he  at  first  thought,  and  soon 
abandoned  hope  in  that  direction  and  began  to  look 
and  feel  about  him  as  best  he  could.  Finally,  he 
sounded  the  bark  and  drew  out  his  jack-knife  and 
began  cutting  his  way  out.  It  was  slow  and  ted- 
ious work,  especially  in  the  dark,  cramped  hollow 
of  the  tree.  He  cut  his  hands  and  often  had  to  stop 
and  rest.  He  thought  he  would  have  to  give  it  up, 
but  at  last  succeeded  in  making  an  opening  large 
enough  to  force  his  body  through.  Night  had  fallen 
long  before  he  succeeded  in  getting  out,  which  was 
fortunate,  for  it  enabled  him  to  slip  away  in  the 
darkness  without  being  noticed.  He  made  his  way 
silently  through  the  narrow,  quiet  streets  to  Wang's 
house.  Wang  and  Ned  quickly  let  him  in,  and  they 
immediately  went  to  bed,  because  a  light  might 
arouse  the  suspicions  of  the  neighbors. 

Next  morning  Quong  told  his  story  in  detail,  after 
which  they  went  to  the  garden  and  dug  up  the  stool. 
They  took  it  apart  carefully,  and  upon  examining 
the  legs,  which  were  hollow,  instead  of  finding 
papers  or  a  chart,  a  little  bag  fell  from  each  one. 
They  were  eagerly  picked  up  and  opened  and  found 
to  contain  chunks  of  gold  and  silver. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  77 

"Well,  I'll  be  busted !"  ejaculated  Ned,  while 
Quong  and  Wang  looked  on  in  silent  amazement. 
After  they  had  recovered  from  their  astonishment 
they  examined  the  money.  "It  is  not  coin  of  any 
country,"  said  Wang,  in  a  somewhat  disappointed 
tone,  "just  gold  and  silver".  He  had  expected  to 
get  a  chart  that  would  lead  to  where  some  large 
treasure  was.  The  coin  was  weighed  and  then  di- 
vided into  thirds — each  of  the  three  receiving  an 
equal  share. 

"We  must  lie  low,  now,  because  that  Mandarin 
will  try  to  recover  the  prisoner  and  will  stop  at  no 
expense  in  doing  it,"  said  Ned.  "Tomorrow,"  he 
continued,  "I'll  go  down  to  a  goldsmith's — is  there 
one?"  he  asked  of  Quong,  and,  as  Quong  nodded  his 
head,  Ned  went  on,  "and  get  the  coin  changed  to 
real  money.  Till  then  we'd  better  hide  it."  The 
coin  was  put  back  into  the  bags  and  taken  into  the 
house,  and  two  adobe  bricks  were  removed  from 
each  end  and  sidewall  in  the  room  and  the  bags  hid- 
den behind  them.  After  seeing  that  the  bags  were 
safe  all  three  breathed  more  freely. 

In  the  afternoon  Ned  wrote  to  his  parents  and  to 
Mr.  Clovis,  telling  in  each  letter  the  story  of  the 
Chinese  feud  and  the  taking  of  the  chair.  This  took 


78  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

him  all  the  afternoon,  and  when  he  went  to  mail  the 
letter  he  found  one  from  Mr.  Clovis,  and  when  he 
opened  it  a  check  for  twenty-five  dollars  fell  out. 
He  pocketed  the  check  and  read  the  letter.  Mr. 
Clovis  gave  him  some  advice  about  being  careful, 
and  ended  by  reminding  him  that  a  rolling  stone 
gathers  no  moss.  He  laughed,  and  returned  to 
Wang's  house.  That  night,  after  the  usual  Chinese 
fare,  they  retired  early,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  be  up 
and  get  the  bags  out  before  any  of  their  farmer 
neighbors,  who  rise  with  the  sun,  might  drop  in  for 
a  few  minutes'  conversation  or  to  borrow  something. 
Ned  was  ready  to  start  for  the  goldsmith's  at  an 
early  hour,  but  stopped  to  consult  with  the  brothers 
about  changing  the  coin  into  money.  "Now,  you 
fellows  don't  want  this  money  in  cash,  do  you?" 
asked  Ned.  "Why  not,  eh?"  asked  Quong.  "Be- 
cause," answered  Ned,  "it  would  take  a  cart  to  get 
it  up  here  and  that  might  excite  suspicion,  as  they 
know  you  were  working  as  servant  for  Lem  Wong 
Si."  Quong  told  his  brother,  who  could  not  under- 
stand all  that  Ned  said,  and  they  both  agreed  that  it 
would  be  best  to  follow  Ned's  plan  and  asked  him 
just  how  he  would  manage.  He  said,  "I  will  bring 
it  in  American  pieces  and  you  can  take  a  piece  at  a 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  79 

time  to  American  stores  and  get  your  cash.'*  "All 
right;  good  luck,"  they  replied,  and  Ned  disap- 
peared around  the  corner. 

He  dickered  with  the  smith  and  finally  got  just 
$1368.  This  he  took  to  the  brothers,  who  were 
eagerly  awaiting  his  appearance.  It  was  equally 
divided  among  the  three,  giving  each  one  $456. 

Ned  played  with  the  children  and  with  Toby,  who 
was  now  with  him,  that  afternoon,  and  in  the  even- 
ing after  supper  he  told  Wang  that  he  was  going 
to  leave  next  day.  Wang  and  Quong  both  tried  to 
persuade  him  to  stay,  but  he  told  them  he  must  be 
moving.  The  real  reason  why  Ned  wished  to  leave 
so  soon  was  because  he  had  had  enough  of  Chinese 
feuds.  He  believed  the  brothers  to  be  in  the  right, 
because  he  had  never  detected  anything  about  either 
of  them  which  seemed  dishonest  or  tricky,  but  Quong 
had  had  such  a  narrow  escape  that  he  thought  it 
would  be  wise  for  him  to  leave  without  further  delay. 
So  next  morning  he  bade  his  true  and  good  Chinese 
friends  good-bye,  much  to  their  regret,  and  taking 
Toby  with  him,  departed.  He  got  on  the  river  boat 
and  was  rowed  clear  to  its  mouth  in  two  days — the 
most  monotonous  two  days  Ned  had  ever  spent.  If 
it  had  not  been  for  Toby  Ned  would  have  been  very 
lonesome,  indeed. 


80  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


He  grew  tired  of  the  Chinese  fare  on  board,  and 
when  they  touched  at  quite  a  large  town  and  Ned 
saw  a  few  American  people  here  and  there,  he  went 
ashore,  after  several  minutes  of  motioning  and  ges- 
ticulating with  the  captain  as  to  how  long  the  boat 
would  remain  at  the  town.  After  learning  that 
they  would  stop  about  half  an  hour,  he  went  ashore, 
found  an  American  store,  and  bought  some  crackers 
and  cheese,  and  finished  with  a  drink  of  sweet  cider. 
He  took  some  of  the  cheese  and  crackers  back  with 
him,  and  made  his  meals  of  them  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  journey. 

While  he  had  so  much  time  to  himself  he  began 
to  plan  on  what  he  would  do  next.  He  finally  de- 
cided to  go  to  "The  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun",  which 
is  Japan.  He  had  day-dreams,  as  he  lay  on  the 
deck  or  in  a  chair,  idly  wishing  he  might  take  enough 
money  home  so  his  father  would  not  have  to  work 
so  hard,  and  then  he  would  arouse  himself  and  try 
to  find  a  cool  spot  out  of  reach  of  the  sun.  The 
river's  mouth  was  at  a  town  of  some  importance, 
being  a  fair-sized  seaport. 

Upon  landing  Ned  wandered  the  streets  aimlessly, 
taking  in  the  sights.  Finally  his  eye  espied  the  sign, 
"S.  S.  Princess  sails  September  1st."  He  walked 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  81 

on,  looking  for  the  Steamship  Company's  office,  but 
not  finding  it,  soon  returned  and  marked  down  the 
date  in  a  small  memorandum  book.  He  found  a 
cheap  lodging-house  and  paid  for  two  days'  board, 
and  then  began  to  wonder  what  he  would  do  next. 
He  counted  his  money  and  found  he  had  just  $520 
in  American  coin,  and  some  two  or  three  dollars  in 
Chinese.  He  bought  a  money  belt  to  wear  around 
his  waist,  and  as  most  of  the  money  was  in  green- 
backs, he  was  not  hampered  by  its  weight. 

Next  day  he  went  down  to  the  wharves,  and  after 
wandering  around  for  awhile  he  came  to  a  large 
steamship — indeed,  very  large,  too  large,  in  fact, 
he  thought,  for  the  amount  of  work  going  on  about 
her.  He  asked  a  sailor  where  she  was  bound  for. 
44 Ye  ain't  goin'  to  ship,  be  ye?"  asked  the  old  salt. 
"I  might,  but  I  thought  you  could  tell  me  where  she 
is  to  sail."  "Oh,  yes,  I'll  tell  ye,"  the  old  sailor 
said  hastily,  "we're  bound  for  Indy,  Singapore  and 
Italy."  "Thank  you,"  answered  Ned,  "you  sail 
on  the  first,  don't  you?"  "Yep;  say,  youngster, 
did  ye  ever  sail  on  a  ship?"  "Oh,  on  a  coaster  for 
awhile,  then  I  was  with  a  circus  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  and  China."  "Uh-huh!  but  coasters  is  easy 
'side  a  real  oceaner.'  "  Ned  sat  down  at  this  point 


82  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

in  the  conversation,  and  the  old  sailor  went  on, 
"Yes,  the  Princess  is  a  fine  ship  and  I  been  with  her 
and  her  Cap'n  goin'  on  a  year  now,  and  I  been  pro- 
moted onct,  too."  "What  is  your  position?"  asked 
Ned.  "I  am  the  second  assistant  bosun;  I  was  be- 
fore the  mast,  but  the  old  man  liked  me,  I  guess, 
cuz  anyways,  I  eat  in  a  cabin  now."  "Well,  you're 
in  luck.  'Spose  you  could  get  me  a  position?"  At 
first  the  bosun's  assistant  laughed,  but  when  Ned 
told  him  he  would  really  like  to  get  a  position,  he 
took  it  seriously  and  said  he'd  go  aboard  and  see, 
"No  time  like  the  present,"  he  added,  smiling. 

While  he  was  gone  Ned  began  to  wonder  what 
he  would  do  with  Toby  in  case  he  got  a  chance  to 
ship,  and  finally,  just  as  Barney  Clune,  the  bosun's 
assistant,  came  down  the  gang  plank,  all  smiles, 
he  decided  that  he  would  have  time  to  take  Toby 
back  and  give  him  to  Wang,  who  he  knew  would 
be  good  to  him. 

"Well,  I  got  ye  a  berth,  youngster,  as  Capt'n's 
boy.  You  can  bring  your  luggage  aboard  tomorrer — 
lessee,  this  is  Wednesday;  we  sail  next  Thurday, 
a  little  morn'n  a  week  from  today,"  said  Barney. 
"Thank  you",  answered  Ned,  "What's  the  pay?" 
"Twenty  dollars  a  month;  come  on  deck  and  he'll 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  83 

tell  ye  what  ye  got  to  do — and  don't  mind  if  he 
looks  a  hole  clean  through  ye  at  first.  He's  got  a 
good  heart,  so  come  on.  One  thing  he's  dippy  about, 
and  that's  punctuality." 

Barney  led  Ned  up  the  gang  plank  on  to  a  large, 
clean,  well  kept  deck.  Everything  was  fresh  and 
bright,  showing  an  orderly,  well  disciplined  crew. 
"Mr.  Dorn,  this  is  the  boy,"  said  Barney,  touching 
his  cap.  The  captain  gave  Ned  a  keen,  long  look, 
then  with,  "Follow  me!"  in  a  business  like  tone, 
he  lead  the  way  to  a  cabin,  on  the  door  of  which 
was  a  name  plate  bearing  the  inscription,  "Captain." 

"Now,"  said  Captain  Barney,  "your  name  is 
Edward  Winter.  All  right,  Ned — I  suspect  you  are 
called  Ned." — Ned  nodded — "Your  business  is  to  do 
anything  I  require — act  as  porter,  make  my  bed  in 
the  morning,  dust  the  chairs  and  furniture  and  keep 
the  cabin  in  order,  bring  my  meals,  set  my  table 
and  run  errands  about  the  ship.  When  you  hear 
this  bell  ring  (he  pointed  to  a  gong  on  the  wall), 
come  here.  If  I  am  not  on  the  bridge  I  will  be  here. 
"And",  continued  the  captain,  "you  need  not  report 
for  duty  until  Monday  or  Tuesday  and  your  pay  will 
begin  from  that  date.  You  will  bunk  here,"  he 
said,  showing  Ned  a  small  cabin  near  the  captain's. 


84  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


"I  think  that  is  all — I  suppose  you  know  that  I  am 
to  be  addressed  as  'sir'  ".  "Yes,  sir,  I  know," 
answered  Ned,  as  he  moved  off,  examining  the  ship 
on  his  way  to  the  gang  plank,  where  he  told  Barney 
that  he  would  see  him  again  Monday  or  Tuesday. 

The  next  day  he  took  the  quaint  Chinese  train  to 
where  he  had  to  connect  with  the  boat,  taking  Toby 
with  him.  He  was  very  sorry  to  part  with  his  little 
pet,  but  was  tired  of  China  with  its  ancient,  back- 
ward ways.  Wang  gladly  took  Toby,  as  he  had  been 
a  favorite  with  the  children.  Toby  licked  Ned's 
hand  sadly  when  they  parted  at  Wang's  gate. 
"Good-bye,  Toby,  old  fellow,  good-bye,"  and  he 
hurried  away  to  suppress  a  tear,  because  Toby  had 
been  much  company  to  Ned. 

Ned  dreaded  the  long,  slow  journey  to  the  sea- 
coast,  but  wisely  bought  a  book  to  read  to  help  the 
time  pass  more  pleasantly.  At  length  he  landed  and 
immediately  went  to  his  boarding  place,  got  his  lug- 
gage and  went  down  to  the  wharf  where  the  big 
"Princess"  was  lying.  He  put  his  baggage  under  his 
berth  and  then  reported  to  the  captain,  and  as  the 
other  boy  had  left  that  day  he  went  to  work  at  once. 
The  captain  said  nothing,  so  he  thought  he  could 
not  have  made  many  mistakes. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  85 

Next  morning  he  was  up  bright  and  early,  and 
went  about  his  duties,  which  he  had  finished  by 
nine  o'clock.  Then  he  began  walking  about  the 
ship  admiring  this  point  and  comparing  others  with 
ships  he  had  seen.  The  engines  interested  him 
mostly.  He  was  closely  examining  some  of  the 
parts  when  a  cheery  voice  at  his  elbow  said,  "  Inter- 
ested?" Ned  turned  around  to  see  a  kind-looking 
man  in  Assistant  Chief  Engineer's  uniform  looking 
at  him.  ''Yes,  I  am  very  much  interested/'  an- 
swered Ned.  "I  was  just  comparing  those  piston 
rods  with  the  ones  in  a  coaster  I  once  sailed  on.  "In 
the  States  ? "  "  Yes,  on  the  Pacific  Coast. "  "  Would 
you  like  to  go  into  the  engine  room?"  "Yes,  sir, 
very  much  indeed, ' '  answered  Ned,  politely.  ' '  Come 
on  this  way,"  and  the  Assistant  led  the  way  down 
the  steep  iron  ladder  into  the  engine  room.  Ned 
spent  quite  a  while  in  the  engine-room,  then  went 
on  deck.  He  spent  all  the  afternoon  getting  ac- 
quainted with  the  crew  and  examining  the  ship. 

The  "Princess"  was  a  steamer  of  about  9,000 
tons,  one  of  four  ships  of  the  Asiatic  Steamship 
Company's  liners,  running  from  China  and  Japan 
to  most  ports  in  Southern  Asia  and  the  cities  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  next  morning  the  passengers 


86  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

came  on  board — about  one  hundred  in  all,  among 
them  a  few  Chinamen,  whom  Barney  called 
"bloomin'  Chinesers". 

About  ten  o'clock  the  captain  called  from  the 
bridge,  "Let  go  your  lines !"  This  was  echoed  down 
to  officers,  who  passed  it  on  to  the  sailors.  The  big 
ship  swung  gracefully  into  the  bay  and  the  propel- 
lers churned  rhythmically  with  the  throbs  of  the 
engine.  Ned  leaned  over  the  rail  and  watched  the 
Chinese  city  fade  from  view.  All  at  once  the  cap- 
tain's bell  rang  and  Ned  ran  up  to  the  bridge. 
"Take  this  note  to  the  chief  engineer."  Ned  took 
the  note,  in  which  he  would  have  read  had  he 
opened  it,  "Can  you  show  speed?  Want  a  flying 
trip.  Captain  Dora."  "Tell  him,  'yes/  "  said  Chief 
Engineer  Howell  to  Ned.  Running  on  such  errands 
as  this  was  about  all  Ned  had  to  do,  besides  his  cabin 
duties.  He  had  long  talks  with  Barney,  who  told 
him  many  sailors'  yarns  and  taught  him  the  names 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  ship. 

"Say,  did  I  ever  tell  you  the  story  of  Mike 
O'Donnel?"  asked  Barney  one  moonlight  evening, 
as  they  were  sitting  on  a  large  pile  of  rope  in  the 
bow  of  the  ship.  "No,  I  don't  believe  you  ever  did; 
why?"  asked  Ned,  looking  up,  for  he  had  been 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  87 

watching  the  phosphorus  in  the  water.  "Well,  its 
an  almighty  true  story,  and  Mike  was  from  me  own 
blessed  Emerald  Isle,  too.  He  was  a  good  man,  was 
Mike,  but  he  had  an  orful  temper,  and  he  laid  out 
two  captains.  He  had  just  come  in  port  from  a  voy- 
age around  the  Horn  and  had  landed  in  New  York 
with  eight  months '  pay  in  'is  pocket.  This  he  spends 
in  two  weeks  and  is  out  of  a  job.  As  he  begins  get- 
tin  '  in  pretty  bad  straits  he  ships  on  a  cattleman 
bound  for  ould  London.  The  boss,  Hogan,  was  the 
meanest,  orneriest  critter  ye  ever  seed — so  Mike 
said.  Well,  the  ship  was  called  the  "Vincent",  and 
one  cold  mornin'  she  steamed  past  the  Goddess  of 
Liberty  and  into  the  ocean.  Well,"  chuckled  Bar- 
ney, "Mike  found  his  match  in  Hogan,  who  was  not 
only  mean  but  bigger 'n  Mike,  and  as  Mike  had  quite 
a  reputation,  most  of  the  cattlers  looked  for  a  scrap. 
Mike's  job  was  to  water  and  feed  so  many  steers 
each  mornin'  and  evenin'.  Well,  Mike  had  a  whole 
pile  o'  spirit,  I  tell  ye,  and  it  made  his  blood  boil  to 
have  Hogan  order  him  around  like  he  was  a  dog. 
One  mornin'  the  ship  gave  a  big  lurch  and  Mike, 
who  was  carryin'  two  pails  of  water,  slipped  and 
spilled  the  water  all  over  him.  Hogan,  who  was 
standin'  near,  talkin'  with  a  bunch  of  cattlers  who 


GOOD'S  BUDGET 


wanted  to  curry  favor,  guffawed  loudly  and  his 
companions  joined  in.  Hogan  made  some  nasty  re- 
mark about  seein'  a  kid  who  could  carry  two  pails 
the  whole  length  of  the  ship  and  not  take  a  bath. 
Mike  got  up  and  walked  over  to  Hogan  and  said, 
'Ye  blitherin  spalpeen,  take  thot  and  thot!'  and  hit 
him  square  in  the  jaw.  This  was  something  Hogan 
had  not  looked  for.  He  had  expected  Mike  to  say 
something  back  and  that  was  all.  For  a  moment  he 
was  dazed,  but  soon  recovered  himself  and  ran  at 
Mike  like  a  wild  bull,  yelling  curses  and  striKing 
out  wildly  with  his  arms.  Mike  had  expected  this 
attack  and  'e  (Barney  when  excited  fell  into  his 
brogue)  just  jumped  aside,  thin  cracked  Hogan  in 
the  face  so  hard  he  knocked  'im  down,  and  afther 
thot  Hogan  niver  had  anything  to  say  to  Mike.  In 
fact,  Mike  about  did  as  he  pleased  the  whole  voy- 
age. Now,  that's  the  story  of  Mike  O'Donnell,  and 
I  tell  ye  now,  Mike's  got  a  job  as  second  mate  on  a 
good  whaler  goin'  from  New  York  to  the  North 
Pacific  and  back,  and  he  got  his  job  all  by  spirit  and 
you've  got  to  get  up  early." 

Ned  went  down  the  deck  and  tumbled  in,  think- 
ing of  Barney's  description  of  Hogan  and  compar- 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  89 

ing  his  nature  with  that  of  George  Drake,  the  village 
lawyer,  of  whom  it  reminded  him.  Ned  could  not 
figure  how  George  Drake  had  a  good  feature,  being 
covetous,  mean,  unforgiving  and  of  a  cowardly 
spirit.  However,  he  did  not  dwell  long  on  Mr. 
Drake's  character,  but  was  soon  in  the  Land  of  Nod. 
The  next  morning  was  cloudy  and  cold,  and  after 
cleaning  up  the  cabin  and  serving  the  captain's 
breakfast,  he  went  forward  where  Barney  was  busy 
coiling  up  a  huge  pile  of  rope.  Barney  always  tried 
to  impress  Ned  as  being  an  extra  good  sailor,  and 
after  Ned  came  in  sight  he  began  to  coil  the  rope 
deftly  and  quickly,  never  making  a  miss,  till  the 
rope  was  all  coiled  up.  Barney  looked  up  then  as 
though  he  had  not  seen  Ned  before,  and  Ned  made 
no  sign  to  show  that  he  had  noticed  Barney  look  up 
some  minutes  before.  "Mornin',  young  'un,  how  ye 
feelin'?  Now  to  see  how  good  a  sailor  ye  are,  tell 
me  what  kind  of  weather  we'll  have  next  twenty- 
four  hours?"  Barney  always  liked  to  give  Ned 
nautical  questions  to  answer,  and  to  please  the  old 
sailor  Ned  tried  to  answer  them  correctly.  "Well," 
answered  Ned,  slowly,  "I  should  say  it  might  rain 
a  little.  It  will  not  be  warm  all  day,  which  is  usual 
in  this  part  of  the  world,  isn't  it,  Barney?"  "Yes, 


90  GOOD'S    BUDGET 


'twill — 'twill,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  ye  pick  up  so; 
I'll  make  a  sailor  of  ye  yet."  "I  don't  want  to  be 
a  sailor,  Barney.  I'll  tell  you  why  tonight,  if  it's 
your  watch;  is  it?"  "Yes,  it's  mine,"  said  Barney, 
as  he  turned  to  his  work,  and  just  at  that  moment 
the  captain's  bell  rang  and  Ned  had  to  go. 

He  was  busy  all  the  afternoon  and  had  no  time  to 
spare,  but  that  evening  after  supper  he  met  Barney 
going  to  his  watch,  which  was  on  the  bow.  Ned 
seated  himself  on  a  coil  of  rope,  while  Barney  sat  at 
the  extreme  bow.  "Well,  let's  have  it,  young  'un," 
said  Barney.  Whereupon  Ned  told  of  the  mortgage 
Mr.  Drake  held  on  his  father's  house,  and  about  the 
stock  they  held,  2,000  shares.  While  he  was  telling 
about  this  and  mentioned  the  name  of  the  mining 
company,  a  stranger  passed,  smoking  a  cigar.  He 
turned  quickly,  walked  back  and  said,  addressing 
Ned,  "I  beg  your  pardon,  but  did  you  speak  of  the 
Alaskan  Gold  &  Silver  Mining  Company?"  "I  did, 
sir;  why?"  said  Ned,  wonderingly.  "Why,  you 
spoke  of  it  as  though  it  was  not  worth  much.  Do 
you  know  it  is  worth  $10  or  more  a  share  ? "  "  Why, 
no,  sir;  is  it  really?"  asked  the  perplexed  but  joyful 
Ned.  "Thank  you  ever  so  much."  "Would  you 
care  to  sell  any?"  asked  the  stranger,  shrewdly. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  91 

11  Why,  I'll  see ;  it  isn't  mine  but  my  father's.  What 
figure  would  you  pay?"  "The  prevailing  stock  ex- 
change price."  "Well,  my  father  lives  in  Idaho  and 
— -but  where  do  you  land,  sir?"  asked  Ned,  suddenly, 
not  finishing  his  sentence.  "I  get  off  at  Genoa;  that 
is  my  home.  The  boat  stops  there  for  a  few  days; 
then  I  am  going  back  to  Alaska  via  the  United  States 
and  I  can  go  into  Idaho,  see  your  father  and  trans- 
act the  business."  The  man  gave  his  name  as  L. 
Stomio,  and  said  he  was  an  Italian  banker  at  Genoa. 
Ned  talked  awhile  longer  with  Mr.  Stomio  and  then 
turned  in. 

It  was  decided  that  he  would  cable  from  Colombo, 
Ceylon,  to  his  father  to  hold  the  stock,  because  in 
the  last  letter  he  had  received  from  home,  his  father 
had  told  him  that  George  Drake  was  bargaining  for 
his  stock.  Ned  said  afterwards  that  it  was  the 
longest  three  days  he  had  ever  spent.  But  all  things 
come  to  an  end,  and  so  did  these  days  of  waiting. 
As  soon  as  he  could  get  leave  after  the  boat  reached 
the  dock  he  went  ashore  and  telegraphed  as  follows : 
"Meet  man  at  Boise  October  20th  about  stock. 
Ned."  This  having  been  done  Ned  felt  more  than 
satisfied  during  the  rest  of  their  stay  in  Colombo. 


92  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Wily  Mr.  Drake. 

While  Ned  was  dickering  at  sea  with  the  man 
who  wanted  Mr.  Winter's  stock,  Mr.  Drake,  of  Cole- 
ville,  Idaho  was  not  idle.  One  morning  while  Mr. 
Drake  was  eating  his  breakfast  a  telegram  came 
from  a  certain  party  in  Alaska.  Hastily  tearing  it 
open  he  read,  "  Drake:  Get  stock — Rose  to  $9.50. 
Burnett."  He  clapped  his  hands  gleefully  and  then 
buried  himself  in  deep  thought.  That  afternoon  Mr. 
Winter  came  over  to  pay  the .  quarterly  interest  on 
the  mortgage.  Mr.  Drake  received  him  affably, 
talking  all  the  time  of  Ned's  pluck,  while  inwardly 
wishing  that  young  gentleman  would  be  drowned 
at  sea  or  would  in  some  way  meet  with  an  accident 
that  would  cause  his  death, — for  personal  reasons 
already  known  to  the  reader. 

After  Mr.  Winter  had  finished  with  the  mortgage 
matter,  he  rose  to  go,  but  Mr.  Drake  said,  with  a 
bland  smile,  "Ah,  er — you  have  some  mining  stock, 
I  believe,  in  the  Alaskan  Gold  &  Silver  Mining  Com- 
pany?" "Why,  yes,"  answered  Mr.  Winter.  "Well 
I  thought  probably  you  would  like  to  sell,  consid- 
ering the  price  of  the  stock,  and,"  he  continued, 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  93 

in  the  same  purring  tone,  "I  have  a  party  who 
would  like  to  buy  just  two  thousand  shares."  What 
is  the  price  of  the  stock  now?"  asked  Mr.  Winter, 
cautiously.  Between  fifteen  and  twenty  cents  a 
share,"  lied  Mr.  Drake,  evenly.  "I'll  see,  Drake. 
What  does  this  party  offer?"  "He  offered  $500; 
said  he  would  pay  no  more.  It  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  you,"  went  on  Mr.  Drake,  "you  could  pay 
off  most  of  the  mortgage. "  "  I  '11  see  you  again  about 
it,  George,  answered  Mr.  Winter,  thoughtfully.  That 
evening  he  sat  up  late,  discussing  it  with  Mrs.  Win- 
ter. Finally  they  decided  to  take  the  stock  and  go 
over  next  morning  and  close  the  deal.  Mr.  Winter 
wanted  to  confer  with  Mr.  Clovis,  but  as  it  would 
take  money  and  time,  he  decided  not  to. 

The  following  morning  he  ate  his  breakfast  in 
nervous  haste  and  started  to  walk  over  to  Mr. 
Drake's  house.  He  had  hardly  got  out  of  the  yard, 
when  he  was  hailed  by  a  shout.  Turning,  he  saw 
'Denny'  Elder,  the  village  telegraph  messenger, 
coming  toward  him.  "Want  me,  Denny?"  he  called. 
"Yep."  Slowly  Denny  swaggered  up  and  handed 
Mr.  Winter  a  telegram.  Mr.  Winter  paid  Denny, 
read  the  telegram  and  slowly  retraced  his  steps  to 
the  house.  He  went  into  the  house  feeling  very 


94  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


much  puzzled  and  handed  the  telegram — it  was 
Ned's,  to  his  wife.  "Mary,"  he  said,  after  she  had 
read  it,  "what  had  we  better  do  about  it?"  She 
was  evidently  puzzled,  also,  for  she  said,  "Don't 
sell  it,  anyway;  Ned  evidently  means  something 
and  it  won't  pay  to  be  rash.  He  would  not  telegraph 
clear  from  Ceylon  for  nothing,  so  let  us  wait."  "But 
about  going  to  Boise.  I've  already  lost  a  morning 
and  each  morning  counts,  you  know,"  he  replied 
soberly.  "Yes,  I  know,  but  I  believe  I'd  go  to  Boise 
and  see  Mr.  Clovis  and  ask  his  advice,  but  as  Ned 
did  not  name  or  describe  the  man,  how  would  you 
find  him?"  "I  expect  he  will  write;  anyhow,  what 
made  him  telegraph?"  "Well,  you  know,  I  men- 
tioned in  the  last  letter  that  we'd  like  to  sell  it  and 
he  took  the  chance  that  if  I  sold  it  I  could  get  it 
again. ' ' 

So  Mr.  Winter  went  to  see  Mr.  Drake  and  told 
him  that  he  did  not  care  to  sell  quite  yet.  "Why 
not?"  asked  Mr.  Drake,  crossly.  "I  decline  to 
say."  "But  you  said  you  would,"  "I  did  not 
promise."  "So  you  won't  sell?"  asked  Mr.  Drake, 
finally.  "No  sir,  not  now,  anyway."  Mr.  Drake 
saw  that  Mr.  Winter  was  determined,  so  pleaded  no 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  95 

further,  and  Mr  Winter  departed  leaving  an  angry 
and  puzzled  man  behind  him. 

Mr.  Winter  waited  patiently  for  a  letter  from  Ned 
and  finally  one  morning  Kate  brought  one  on  which 
he  recognized  Ned's  handwriting.  Hastily  tearing 
it  open  he  read  it  eagerly.  "He  says,  Mary,  to  meet 
Mr.  L.  Stomio  at  the  Empire  Hotel  at  Boise  on  the 
20th  and  that  the  stock  is  worth  about  $10.00  a 
share.  Think  of  it!  And  to  think  I  came  near 
selling  it  this  morning.  I  wonder  if  Drake  knows 
of  the  price  of  the  stock."  All  of  the  family  read 
Ned's  letter  over  and  over  again,  wondering  if  this 
good  fortune  would  really  come  to  them. 

The  days  passed  slowly  by.  Mr.  Winter  had  taken 
a  day  off  to  see  Mr.  Clovis,  who  decided  that  he 
would  be  at  the  Hotel  Empire  on  the  20th  to  help 
Mr.  Winter  dispose  of  his  stock.  Finally  the  day 
came,  and  Mr.  Winter,  dressed  in  his  best,  boarded 
the  train  for  Boise.  Arriving  there  he  met  Mr. 
Clovis  and  the  two  began  to  watch  for  Mr.  Stomio. 
Soon  they  noticed  a  dark-complexioned  man  walking 
among  the  crowd  with  a  quick,  nervous  step,  ap- 
parently looking  for  someone.  Finally  he  came  up 
to  Mr.  Winter  and  said,  "I  beg  pardon,  but  are  you 
Mistar  Wintar?"  "Yes,  sir,  and  are  you  Senor  L. 


96  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

Stomio?"  "I  am;  let  us  get  to  beesness  soon,  Senor." 
"  First  let  me  introduce  you  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Clovis, 
a  local  newspaper  editor."  The  introduction  was 
made,  with  much  bowing  on  the  part  of  Senor 
Stomio.  They  adjourned  to  a  private  room,  a  local 
broker  was  called  on  the  telephone  to  find  the  price 
of  A.  G.  and  S.  Mining  Co.  by  telegraph.  Soon  the 
returns  came.  It  was  quoted  at  $10.00  a  share,  so 
Stomio  gave  Mr.  Winter  a  check  for  $20,000,  and 
would  not  take  the  stock  until  he  had  gone  to  the 
bank  with  Mr.  Winter  to  have  the  money  trans- 
ferred to  Mr.  Clovis '  bank. 

"By  jove,  Winter,  you're  in  luck.  I  tell  you,  you 
have  reason  to  be  proud  of  that  son  of  yours,"  said 
Mr.  Clovis,  as  they  were  standing  on  the  platform 
waiting  for  the  train.  "And  say,  Bob,"  he  called, 
as  the  train  began  to  move,  ' '  get  in  a  cab  at  Coleville 
to  show  our  friend  Drake  that  you  have  to  depend 
on  him  no  more." 

Mr.  Winter  entered  the  car  and  sat  down  with  a 
deep  sigh  of  relief.  On  the  whole,  he  thought,  this 
was  certainly  the  best  piece  of  business  he  had  ever 
accomplished. 

One  of  the  passengers  who  stepped  off  the  six 
o'clock  train  at  Coleville  that  evening  was  Mr. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  97 

Robert  Winter.  Upon  alighting  from  the  cab  after 
reaching  his  house,  he  saw  Mr.  George  Drake  com- 
ing down  the  street.  Mr.  Drake  hailed  him  with, 
"Say,  Winter,  I'll  raise  my  bid  to  $700  for  that 
stock."  "It  is  sold,"  Mr.  Winter  could  not  help 
saying.  ' '  Sold ! ' '  echoed  Mr.  Drake.  ' '  To  whom  ? ' ' 
"A  man  in  Boise,  and  if  you'll  step  into  the  house 
a  moment,  I'll  settle  the  mortgage,"  said  Mr.  Win- 
ter, a  trifle  coldly.  Mr.  Drake  looked  surprised,  but 
said  nothing  and  followed  Mr.  Winter  into  the  house. 
The  transaction  was  made  and  Mr.  Drake  left  the 
house,  chagrined  and  puzzled. 

Mrs.  Winter  was  overjoyed  at  their  good  fortune. 
"After  all,  Eobert,  it  was  not  so  foolhardy  an  act 
as  you  supposed."  "No,  it  certainly  was  not,  and 
I  tell  you,  we  have  something  to  be  thankful  for 
this  coming  Thanksgiving  and  I  do  wish  Ned  could 
be  with  us." 

"It  never  rains  but  it  pours,"  is  an  old  saying,  and 
this  oft-times  happens.  Two  days  later  Mr.  Clovis 
came  down  to  take  dinner  with  the  Winters,  and  dur- 
ing the  meal  he  offered  Mr.  Winter  a  position  as  re- 
porter on  his  paper,  provided  he  could  pass  the  ex- 
amination. Mr.  Winter  promptly  accepted  and  ar- 


98  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


ranged  to  leave  his  work  at  the  mill  and  begin  to 
study  for  the  examination  at  once. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Ned  in  the  far-off  land  of 
Ceylon. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Ned's  Last  Voyage. 

The  " Princess'  stayed  in  Colombo  a  day  and  a 
night.  The  morning  of  the  second  day,  at  four 
o'clock,  ten  new  men  came  on,  and  at  five  the  " Prin- 
cess ' '  pointed  her  prow  due  southwest,  bound  for  the 
Suez  Canal  and  the  Mediterranean  ports.  Two  days 
later  they  came  in  sight  of  the  canal  and  waited  till 
morning  to  enter.  The  next  day  Ned  had  very  little 
to  do,  so  he  and  Barney  leaned  over  the  rail  and 
watched  the  bleak,  barren  desert.  They  passed  a  few 
ships,  one  a  U.  S.  gunboat  at  anchor.  The  rail  was 
lined  with  sailors  eager  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Old 
Glory  again.  The  men  from  Ceylon  and  China  looked 
on  in  dumb  contempt,  but  dared  not  say  a  word,  for 
they  would  have  received  a  good  mauling  and  a  cold 
bath  in  the  waters  of  the  Suez  Canal.  That  night 
they  anchored  again,  but  resumed  their  cruise  next 
morning,  and  at  noon  sailed  into  the  beautiful  Med- 
iterranean. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  99 

The  captain  now  rang  four  bells,  which  meant  full 
speed  ahead,  as  he  was  a  day  behind  time.  They 
made  the  run  across  the  sea  in  a  day  and  a  night, 
and  at  eight  o'clock  next  morning  Ned  took  the  cap- 
tain's reports  to  the  agent  of  the  Steamship  Com- 
pany at  Venice.  Ned  had  little  time  to  look  around 
and  got  only  an  hour  off.  This  he  promptly  put  in 
sightseeing. 

Just  as  the  sun  sank  the  loafers  on  the  wharf  let 
go  of  the  "Princess'  "  cables  and  she  backed  into 
the  bay.  She  made  the  trip  to  Genoa  in  twenty-four 
hours,  where  Senor  Stomio  left  them. 

"Oh,  pshaw!"  ejaculated  Barney,  "there's  the 
'Trinidad'.  She  should  'a 'gone  day  before  yester- 
day. Now,  I  '11  bet  a  sack  o '  terbaccy  she 's  busted  and 
we 'got  to  take  another  long  cruise."  "Don't  you 
want  to  take  another  long  cruise  ? ' '  asked  Ned.  '  *  No, 
siree,"  answered  Barney,  forcibly,  "I  am  dead  sick 
on  'em.  That  there  'Trinidad',  after  we're  gone  '11 
just  cruise  around  here  and  stay  in  port  half  the 
time,  while  we  fight  gales  and  the  like. "  "  Oh,  well, ' ' 
replied  Ned,  in  a  sympathetic  tone,  though  he  se- 
cretly wished  they  might  start  on  another  long  cruise, 
"maybe  they'll  have  her  fixed  by  the  time  we've  un- 
loaded the  cargo."  His  surmise,  however,  was  in- 


100  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

correct,  for  when  the  "Princess"  had  unloaded  her 
cargo,  the  "Trinidad's"  engines  still  refused  to 
work.  "I'll  bet  that  captain  just  fixed  her  up," 
grumbled  Barney,  "so's  he  could  stick  aroun'  here." 

The  next  morning  the  order  came  to  get  in  a 
cargo  of  macaroni  and  dried  fruits  for  the  States. 
L.  Stomio  had  left  for  England,  from  there  he  would 
go  to  New  York  and  thence  to  Boise.  It  was  a 
long  trip,  but  L.  Stomio  evidently  wanted  the  stock 
badly.  It  took  three  days  to  load-in  the  cargo, 
and  on  the  first  day  the  supercargo  fell  overboard 
and  struck  a  piece  of  planking.  He  was  saved,  but 
sustained  bad  bruises  and  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  go  on  with  his  work.  As  he  was  a  resident  of 
Genoa  he  was  removed  to  his  home  and  the  doctor 
who  was  summoned  said  that  he  would  better  not 
make  the  cruise. 

The  captain  immediately  began  to  search  for 'an- 
other supercargo.  Finding  none  who  suited  him  in 
the  city,  he  did  the  rest  of  the  work  himself.  As 
he  was  so  busy  all  day  he  did  not  have  time  to 
attend  to  all  of  his  regular  duties,  and  after  supper 
he  called  Ned  into  the  cabin  and  asked  him  to  show 
him  a  copy  of  his  handwriting.  Ned  complied. 
"That's  pretty  fair;  now  will  you  copy  these  sheets 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  101 

for  me?"  Ned  answered  in  the  affirmative  and  be- 
gan to  write.  When  he  was  nearly  through  Captain 
Dora  suddenly  said,  "Do  you  think  you  could  do  the 
supercargo's  work?  All  you  would  have  to  do  is 
to  keep  an  account  of  everything  that  is  loaded  on 
this  ship  or  unloaded."  "Yes,  sir,  I  do."  "You 
do,  eh?  All  right,  we'll  try  you  tomorrow,  and  if 
you  don't  make  good,  I  don't  know  what  I'll  do." 

After  finishing  the  sheets  Ned  left  the  cabin  to 
find  Barney  and  tell  him  of  his  good  luck.  It  is 
a  trait  of  human  nature  to  want  to  tell  someone  else 
at  once  if  you  have  a  piece  of  good  fortune.  "Good 
fer  you,  youngster,"  said  Barney  warmly,  and  then 
proceeded  to  give  Ned  some  instructions  regarding 
the  supercargo's  duties. 

Next  morning  Ned,  with  book  and  pencil,  was 
on  the  wharf  checking  the  cargo  as  it  was  swung 
over  the  ship's  side  in  a  huge  net,  drawn  by  means 
of  booms  and  pulleys  with  a  gas  engine.  All  day 
he  sat  checking  the  goods,  and  toward  evening  his 
hand  became  so  tired  that  he  longed  for  five  o'clock 
to  come.  That  evening  he  sat  up  late  with  Captain 
Dora,  comparing  his  book  with  that  of  the  man 
who  had  delivered  the  cargo.  It  checked  correctly, 
for  Ned  had  worked  hard  and  conscientiously  all 


102  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


day.  "Youngster,  you  have  made  good;  go  to- 
morrow and  get  you  a  supercargo's  cap  and  hunt 
up  another  cabin  boy."  Ned  could  scarcely  conceal 
his  joy,  and  Barney  was  almost  as  glad  as  though 
the  good  fortune  had  been  his  own.  The  next  day 
Ned  worked  even  harder,  and  the  third  day  was 
easier,  but  he  worked  with  a  will,  for  he  knew  that 
the  captain  might  keep  him  as  supercargo  for  the 
rest  of  the  voyage. 

As  soon  as  the  last  bit  of  cargo  was  on  board 
and  all  passengers  likewise,  the  "  Princess "  slowly 
steamed  out  to  sea.  As  soon  as  they  had  left  the 
Suez  behind,  Captain  Dorn  rang  four  bells  and  the 
speed  was  increased.  After  the  Philippines  had  been 
passed  they  proceeded  at  full  speed.  On  the  eleventh 
day  out  Ned  came  on  deck  as  usual.  After  seeing 
that  the  cargo  was  all  right  he  thought  he  would 
find  Barney,  as  it  was  past  mess  time.  As  he  neared 
the  bow  he  heard  voices  engaged  in  discussion  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  Captain  Dorn  and  three  of 
the  men  that  had  shipped  at  Ceylon.  "You  let 
heem  loose/'  cried  one  angrily.  "I'll  do  nothing 
of  the  sort  and  any  more  out  of  you  and  I'll  clap 
you  into  the  brig."  The  man  evidently  saw  that 
the  captain  meant  what  he  said  for  he  moved  off, 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  103 

followed  by  his  companions.  An  hour  later  Ned 
saw  them  in  a  group  with  the  others  who  had 
shipped  at  Ceylon.  He  counted  nine,  and  surmised 
that  the  other  one  was  in  the  brig.  He  waited  awhile 
and  then  decided  to  go  to  the  captain.  "Well,  what 
is  it?"  asked  Captain  Dorn.  "Well,  sir,  I  don't 
like  to  seem  to  meddle,  but  those  men  who  shipped 
at  Ceylon  are  planning  mischief."  "Why  do  you 
think  so?"  "Just  a  few  moments  ago  I  saw  them 
all  talking  together  in  low  tones."  "Well,  Winter, 
I  may  as  well  tell  you  I  had  trouble  with  them  this 
morning.  One  of  them  thought  he  was  too  fresh 
and  I  clapped  him  into  the  brig,  and  we'll  keep  our 
eyes  peeled  for  'em."  You  will  notice  that  the  cap- 
tain treated  Ned  with  more  respect,  now  that  he  was 
supercargo. 

Next  morning  Ned  was  up  earlier  than  usual, 
fearing  danger  from  the  mutinous  sailors.  He  had 
not  been  on  deck  twenty  minutes  when  he  heard 
loud  voices  and  a  pistol  shot.  Like  a  flash  it  came 
through  his  mind  that  the  prisoner  was  in  the  mid- 
ship cabin.  Hastily  running  through  the  passage- 
way he  came  upon  a  scene  that  made  his  heart  stand 
still.  The  captain  was  standing  before  the  cabin 
door  with  the  first  mate.  It  was  still  dark,  but  in 


104  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

the  faint  moonlight  Ned  recognized  the  mutineers. 
It  was  evident  that  the  captain  and  mate  were  hedged 
in,  and  threatened  with  death  if  an  alarm  was  raised 
again — the  captain  had  already  fired  the  shot  Ned 
had  heard.  Their  plan  at  first  had  simply  been  to  get 
the  prisoner  out,  but  now  they  wanted  command  of 
the  ship.  The  prisoner  was  evidently  their  leader. 
His  followers  wanted  to  help  him,  but  dared  not  risk 
the  captain 's  pistol  and  the  mate's  belaying  pin. 
"Men,"  the  captain's  voice  rang  high  above  the 
shouts  of  the  mutineers  and  the  oaths  of  the  prisoner 
inside,  "disperse  at  once;  if  you  do  not  it  will  go 
hard  with  you.  I  will  give  you  a  fair  chance  and  if 
you  don't  take  it  you  will  take  the  consequences." 
There  were  low  mutterings  and  growls,  which  signi- 
fied that  the  men  did  not  wish  to  give  up  the  chance 
to  seize  the  ship.  The  leader  inside  then  broke  forth 
again,  and  Ned  quickly  decided  that  if  this  man  got 
out  he  would  incite  the  others  to  more  desperate 
action  than  they  would  venture  alone,  so  he  hurried 
around  to  the  back  of  the  cabin,  revolving  a  plan  in 
his  mind  as  he  ran.  As  he  rushed  down  the  deck  he 
spied  a  piece  of  half -inch  rope.  "Just  the  thing!" 
he  muttered  to  himself.  "It's  a  chance,  but  I'll  try 
it."  He  ran  back  behind  the  cabin,  relieved  to  hear 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  105 

the  captain  still  remonstrating.     "Lucky  there  are 
no  ports  on  the  starboard,"  he  thought. 

Carefully  and  quietly  he  opened  a  porthole,  and 
saw  the  prisoner  looking  through  the  keyhole  of  the 
much  battered  door.  His  head  was  in  a  fine  position 
to  lasso  and  Ned  took  careful  aim — and  let  fly  the 
rope.  It  struck  the  man  on  the  head  and  settled 
down  over  his  shoulders.  Ned  gave  a  quick  jerk  to 
the  rope  to  pull  it  taut  and  then  dragged  the  now 
helpless  man  to  the  side  of  the  cabin,  wound  the 
rope  quickly  around  his  arms  and  tied  it  to  a  couple 
of  belaying  pins.  He  then  ran  down  the  deck  in  quest 
of  the  loyal  sailors.  Meanwhile  the  prisoner  was 
yelling  to  his  mates  to  release  him.  For  a  full  minute 
they  did  not  comprehend  the  new  turn  of  affairs, 
and  this  gave  Ned  time  to  rout  out  the  sailors.  "Fol- 
low me,  quickly;  the  captain's  in  danger,"  he 
shouted.  The  dozen  loyal  sailors  ran  after  Ned, 
picking  up  belaying  pins  and  other  weapons  on  the 
way.  They  arrived  just  in  time,  for  the  mutineers 
had  broken  into  the  cabin  and  were  untying  their 
leader.  When  the  captain  caught  sight  of  Ned  and 
the  sailors  he  shouted  the  order,  "Seize  every  one  of 
them,  quickly!"  This  was  no  easy  task,  but  they 
immediately  attacked  the  largest  bunch.  The  captain 


106  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


retired  and  gagged  the  leader  and  then  began  on  the 
rest.  In  ten  minutes  it  was  over,  and  the  leader  and 
his  nine  companions  were  under  the  forward  hatches 
in  irons. 

"By  jove,  Winter,  I  am  indeed  grateful  to  you; 
that  was  very  clever/'  said  Captain  Dorn.  "Oh,  it 
was  nothing,  sir;  anyone  could  have  done  it,"  said 
Ned  modestly.  "Don't  you  think  it,  boy.  My,  but 
it  makes  me  mad  to  think  of  the  dirty  swabs  trying  to 
steal  my  ship,"  answered  the  captain,  angered  again 
at  thought  of  the  mutineers.  The  men  were  all  loud 
in  their  praises  of  Ned,  who  protested  against  it,  but 
they  did  not  stop  talking  about  it  till  the  end  of  the 
voyage. 

There  was  very  little  for  a  time  to  break  the  daily 
monotony  of  ship  life.  Once  in  awhile  Ned  would 
go  to  the  hold  and  spend  half  a  day  looking  after  his 
cargo.  He  always  went  down  once  a  day  to  look 
it  over.  One  morning,  just  as  he  was  starting  back 
up  to  the  deck  he  heard  a  muffled  groan.  Turning 
around  he  saw  a  boy  about  his  age  lying  between  two 
barrels.  "What's  the  matter  here?"  asked  Ned 
somewhat  sharply.  The  boy  turned  a  pained  face 
toward  Ned.  "I  am  starving  to  de^th,"  he  said 
weakly,  "get  me  something  to  eat,  won't  you, 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  107 

please  ? "  '  *  1 11  have  to  take  you  to  the  captain.  Can 
you  walk?"  "Yes,  I  think  so."  The  boy  arose  but 
before  he  had  taken  ten  steps  fell  fainting,  overcome 
by  hunger,  thirst  and  exposure.  Ned  called  a  sailor 
and  together  they  carried  him  to  the  cabin ;  then  Ned 
went  to  report  the  matter  to  the  captain.  "Well, 
make  him  work  his  way  soon  as  he  is  well  enough." 
Ned  took  his  leave  and  then  went  to  the  galley  to  get 
the  boy  some  broth  and  water.  When  Ned  returned 
to  the  cabin  the  boy  had  regained  consciousness  under 
the  care  of  the  sailor.  "How  do  you  feel  now?" 
asked  Ned  kindly.  "I  feel  better,  thank  you;  what 
are  you  going  to  do  with  me?"  "As  soon  as  you  feel 
better  you  will  have  to  work."  Little  by  little  Ned 
drew  out  his  story.  He  learned  that  he  had  lived  in 
Portland,  Oregon,  and  had  left  a  good  home  for  a  trip 
to  Italy  and  the  Mediterranean.  His  money  gave  out 
and  he  was  compelled  to  stowaway  to  keep  from 
starving,  as  he  could  not  get  a  job  in  the  crowded 
city  of  Genoa.  "I  had  good  parents  and  if  you  will 
let  me  have  a  little  money  when  we. get  ashore — tell 
the  captain  I  will  get  up  tomorrow  and  do  my  share. 
Let  me  sleep  now  and  thank  you  ever  so  much." 

Ned  and  the  sailor  left  the  cabin.     "Queer  sort 
that — rollin'  stone,  mostly.     I  ain't  got  no  use  for 


108  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

stowaways,  but  he  seems  a  good  sort  an'  I  feel  kind 
o'  sorry  for  him."  "I  am,  too,  but  he  don't  seem 
to  worry,  so  we  won't." 

Next  day  the  new  boy,  who  was  about  Ned's  age 
and  boasted  the  name  of  Frank  Burnam,  came  on 
deck  and  went  to  work  with  a  will.  He  had  good 
clothes,  and  looked  and  acted  as  if  his  parents  might 
be  wealthy.  As  soon  as  he  was  through  his  work 
he  came  over  to  where  Ned  was  standing,  talking  to 
Barney.  "Traveled  much?"  he  asked  abruptly,  ad- 
dressing Ned.  "A  little,"  answered  Ned.  "Fun 
ain't  it?  I've  been  around  the  world  about  three 
times,"  said  Frank,  without  a  trace  of  boastfulness. 

"Winter,"  called  the  captain  suddenly  from  the 
bridge,  "come  here  a  moment,  please."  Yes,  sir," 
called  Ned,  as  he  hastened  away.  "Here,  can  you 
see  anything  off  to  the  northwest  there  ?  Mr.  Stock- 
bridge,  the  mate,  says  he  sees  sails,  and  you  know 
part  of  my  cargo  is  money — almost  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  gold,  and  a  lot  of  Geneva  watches.  I  am 
rather  nervous  because  Captain  Band  told  me  that 
in  this  Ladrone  group  there  are  pirates.  They  have 
great  canoes  of  the  Viking  type,  travel  in  hordes 
and  can  speak  English."  Ned  took  the  glasses  and 
trained  them  on  the  northwest  horizon.  "I  do  see 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  109 

some  sails,  sir."  "We  will  prepare  for  them.  I 
know  what  they  are.  Arm  the  men  with  rifles  and 
get  out  the  gatling  gun." 

Ned  and  the  mate  hurried  away  and  in  an  hour 
were  ready  for  the  pirates,  for  such  they  proved  to 
be.  They  had  come  very  close  to  the  ship  and  were 
making  preparations  to  board.  The  captain  and  his 
men  began  firing  but  the  canoes  came  rapidly  and 
there  were  soon  a  great  many  of  the  South  Sea 
pirates  assembled.  "I  think  we'd  better  leave — four 
bells,  Mr.  Stockbridge, "  said  the  captain.  The 
"Princess"  shot  ahead,  leaving  behind  a  large  band 
of  disappointed  pirates.  "Don't  they  know  you  can 
run  away  from  them?"  asked  Ned.  "Yes,  but  they 
thought  our  machinery  might  be  disabled,  in  which 
case  they  would  board  us  and  make  off  with  the 
ship,"  replied  the  captain. 

Thus  the  days  passed  slowly  by.  Finally  one  morn- 
ing the  lookout  on  the  crosstrees  yelled,  "Land  Ho !" 
It  proved  to  be  land  and  the  captain  said  it  was  the 
coast  of  Southern  California.  "Oh,"  cried  Ned, 
"we'll  soon  be  home!"  "What,"  asked  the  amazed 
captain,  "aren't  you  going  back  with  us?"  "No, 
sir,  I've  earned  my  five  hundred  dollars.  Thank  you 
Captain  Dorn,  but  I'm  tired  of  traveling  and  I  have 


110  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

a  position  waiting  for  me  with  a  newspaper  in  Boise ; 
but  we'll  always  be  friends  and  I  want  you  to  visit 


CHAPTER  X. 
Conclusion. 

Two  weeks  later,  on  November  25th,  a  cab  drove 
up  in  front  of  the  Winter  homestead.  It  was  in  the 
morning  and  Mrs.  Winter  and  the  girls  were  pre- 
paring the  big  Thanksgiving  dinner,  which  Mr.  Clovis 
was  to  attend.  "I  hear  wheels;  it  is  Mr.  Clovis — 
he  thinks  he  has  to  ride  in  a  cab  to  come  to  Robert 
Winter's  house,  now."  "Oh,  how  you  talk,  Mar- 
garet ;  go  let  him  in  and  tell  him  papa  will  be  down 
in  a  minute."  Margaret  went  to  the  door  and 
started  to  open  it  but  another  hand  was  on  the  knob. 
She  waited  and  in  stepped  a  tall  young  man,  dressed 
in  new  clothes  from  head  to  foot.  "Ned,"  she  cried, 
"Ned,  is  it  you?  Oh,  mamma,  Kate,  Mary,  come 
quick!  It's  Ned!"  Such  rejoicing  as  there  was 
that  day!  "You've  done  well,  my  boy,  and  there's 
a  place  for  a  boy — or  must  I  say  a  man,  now  that 
you're  so  large? — on  my  paper  and  I  am  proud  of 
you,"  said  Mr.  Clovis,  warmly. 


AN  AMERICAN  BOY  111 

After  dinner — and  oh,  such  a  dinner  it  was — 
Ned  was  made  to  sit  down  and  tell  his  story  over 
and  over  again.  Thus  we  leave  them  happy  and 
contented,  partially  due  to  the  efforts  of  their  honest, 
upright,  manly  boy. 


Afterword. 

Two  years  later  the  Winters  moved  to  Boise.  Cap- 
tain Dorn  visited  them  often,  and  on  one  of  his 
trips  brought  home  Toby,  who  became  a  great  fav- 
orite with  the  family.  Ned  is  head  reporter  and  his 
father  the  city  editor  of  the  Boise  Times.  Mr.  do  vis 
boards  with  them  and  next  summer  he,  Ned  and 
Mr.  Winter  plan  to  take  a  trip  to  China  and  the 
Orient. 

George  Drake's  son  was  teller  in  his  father's  bank, 
but  stole  $25,000  and  got  away  with  it.  He  has 
never  been  heard  from  since  and  his  father  had  to 
make  up  the  deficiency.  All  this  broke  down  his 
health  and  though  he  is  still  rich  he  is  a  very  un- 
happy man. 

This  is  all,  dear  reader,  so  good-bye. 
The  End. 


BOB 


CHAPTER  I. 

Bob  was  a  newsboy  on  the  streets  of  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  and  was  a  fine  looking,  manly  boy.  His 
father  and  mother  were  living  but  he  knew  not 
wrhere.  When  he  was  only  a  year  old  he  was  taken 
from  his  parents  and  had  lived  in  the  poorhouse 
up  to  a  year  before  the  opening  of  this  story.  He 
was  now  thirteen,  strong  and  healthy  and  loved 
athletics,  but  had  little  time  to  devote  to  it. 

" Here's  yer  Times-Herald!"  he  called.  He  was 
industrious,  and  in  an  hour  his  fifty  papers  were 
gone. 

"Led  me  a  dime,  will  yer  Bob?"  asked  a  ragged 
little  bootblack  named  Jerry,  "Sure;  come  have 
breakfast  with  me." 

The  boys  went  into  a  nearby  lunch  stand  where 
they  had  breakfast.  Bob  had  been  selling  papers 
for  a  year  and  had  made  his  living.  He  was  always 
ready  to  do  a  favor  to  Jerry  when  he  could,  because 
when  he  had  come  in  from  the  poorhouse  Jerry 
had  given  him  enough  money  to  get  a  stock  of 
papers. 


114  GOOD'S     BUDGET 

While  they  were  eating  their  breakfast,  two  men 
came  in  and  took  seats  near  them.  After  ordering 
their  meal  they  began  to  talk  in  low  tones.  One 
of  the  men  was  a  large,  muscular  giant,  fully  six 
feet  tall  and  very  broad.  The  other  was  about  five 
feet  eight  and  of  slighter  build.  The  boys  noticed 
that  the  large  man  was  addressed  as  Mr.  Jose  Cap- 
strano.  He  was  a  full  blooded  Philippine.  The  other 
man's  name  was  Billy  Melvin. 

"I  tell  you  we  need  One  Hundred  Dollars  and 
two  reliable  boys,"  Melvin  was  saying.  "Yes,  yes/' 
said  Capstrano,  "It's  all  there,  but  do  you  believe 
that  we  can  get  the  apparatus  for  One  Hundred 
Dollars?"  "I  think  so,"  answered  Melvin,  "and 
we  have  everything  but  the  money  and  the  boys." 

All  this  time  the  men  were  so  interested  in  their 
discussion  that  they  had  not  noticed  the  boys. 
"Hello,  boys!  Interested?"  asked  the  Philippine, 
looking  up  and  smiling  in  a  manner  that  immedi- 
ately attracted  the  boys  to  him.  "Well,  boys,  how 
would  you  like  to  make  a  nice  little  pile  of  money 
apiece?"  he  asked.  "Fine,"  said  the  boys. 

"All  right,  seeing  that  you  have  heard  most  of 
our  conversation,  we  will  tell  you  all  about  it. 
About  thirty  miles  from  here  is  a  long,  shallow  bay 


BOB  115 

at  the  mouth  of  the  Nanticoke  River.  About  a  quar- 
ter of  the  way  up  you  come  to  a  small  bay  or  cove. 
In  that  cove  are  innumerable  oysters.  Jose  and 
myself  are  oyster  fishermen.  The  other  day  we 
ran  up  this  bay  and  fished  for  oysters  and  found 
one  containing  a  pearl  worth  a  hundred  dollars. 
Now,  there  are  a  good  many  such  oysters  in  that 
cove.  We  need  a  hundred  dollars  to  buy  a  diving 
apparatus  and  you  boys  to  help  us  go  down  some- 
times, and  we'll  divide  the  proceeds.  Jose  and  I 
have  the  boat  and  everything  else  that  is  needed." 
"We're  agreed,"  said  both  boys.  "But  there  are 
two  things  to  be  considered,"  said  Billy.  "First, 
will  your  parents  be  willing?"  "We  ain't  got  none," 
they  answered.  "And,"  went  on  Billy,  "How  much 
money  have  you  fellows  got?"  "Broke,"  said  Jerry. 
"Twenty-five  dollars  in  the  bank  and  a  dollar  here," 
said  Bob.  "H'm —  came  from  the  Philippino, 
"What  do  you  boys  do?"  "Sell  papers  and  black 
boots."  "Well,  I  have  Fifty  Dollars  and  Jose  has 
Twenty — that  makes  Ninety-five.  I  vote  we  all  try 
to  rake  up  what  we  can  and  meet  here  tomorrow, 
which  is  Saturday.  If  we  have  the  money,  we'll 
ship  Monday." 


116  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


CHAPTER  II. 
What  Happened  Twelve  Years  Before. 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  boys?"  asked  Billy, 
after  Bob  and  Jerry  had  gone.  "They  are  all 
right,"  replied  the  Philippine,  "but  there  is  one  dan- 
ger we  must  not  overlook,  and  that  is  Jake  and  Pete 
Harson— rthey  are  villains,  all  right,  but  if  we  let 
'em  alone  they  won't  be  likely  to  bother  us. 

However,  the  Harsons  had  no  intention  of  leaving 
our  friends  alone;  they  were  planning  mischief  at 
that  moment.  "Wonder  if  we'll  ever  see  Markel 
again?"  said  Pete — "don't  seem  likely."  "He  made 
a  pretty  pile  out  of  it,  didn't  he?"  said  Jake. 
"What  in  the  world  did  he  do  with  that  guy?" 
"Took  him  out  to  sea  in  the  Eva — that  was  the  last 
ever  seen  of  him  or  her. 

"H'm,"  said  Jake,  "I  see.  When  the  rich  uncle 
died  this  guy  gets  the  fortune  and  Markel  nothing. 
Markel  don't  like  that,  so  he  gets  the  S.  S.  into 
play.  When  the  guy  and  his  wife  and  kid  disappear, 
Markel  gets  the  fortune."  "Well,  we  hadn't  orter 
be  kicking.  You  was  the  poorhouse  guy  and  orter 
know  what  become  of  the  kid — ha-ha!"  and  Pete 
laughed  harshly. 


BOB  117 

"Say,  when  did  you  see  Melvin  and  the  dago?" 
"Yesterday,  in  Nanticoke  Bay,  fishin'  in  Black  Rock 
Cove.  They  seemed  excited,  so  I  watched  them  and 
I  heard  the  dago  say,  "Oh,  a  fine  one  for  its  size!'7 
Then  as  they  were  comin'  out  of  the  cove,  I  lit. 
Must  have  found  a  pearl.  Now  listen, — if  Markel 
should  show  up  now,  we'll  bring  a  diving  apparatus 
and  get  something,  if  there's  anything  to  get.  Listen 
— someone  at  the  door." 

The  door  was  opened  and  in  came  Dan  Markel 
himself.  "Hello,  boys,"  he  said.  He  was  a  medium 
sized  man  and  had  keen,  sharp  eyes  and  a  sneaking 
expression.  After  exchanging  a  few  words,  the 
Harsons  briefly  laid  their  plan  before  Markel. 

"Suppose  it  was  just  a  lucky  find,"  said  Markel, 
cautiously — he  knew  the  Harson  brothers  unscrupu- 
lousness.  "I  guess  we  ain't  fished  ten  years  and 
don't  know  a  pearl  oyster,"  said  Pete. 

"Well,  when  do  we  start?"  "Soon  as  the  divin' 
apparatus  is  bought,"  said  Pete.  "Then  we'll  start 
Tuesday  morning." 

"Say!  No.  S.  S.  in  this,"  exclaimed  Pete.  "No," 
answered  Markel.  "Is  the  S.  S.  still  alive?"  asked 
Jake.  " Sure, "  returned  Markel.  "You  did  a  clever 
piece  of  work  that  time — you  took  care  of  the  kid, 


118  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

then  turned  him  loose.  Where  is  he  now?"  "In 
the  city,"  said  Pete. 

Pete  and  Jake  had  given  up  the  poorhouse  three 
months  before  and  now  lived  in  a  little  two  room 
house  on  the  bluffs  over  the  Eappahannock  River. 

"Did  you  spend  the  uncle's  pile?"  asked  Jake. 
"No,  sir,"  replied  Markel,  "that's  in  the  bank — 
every  cent  of  it.  I've  made  a  good  living  and  a  little 
to  lay  by  since  that  deal  twelve  years  ago.  I  guess 
the  old  man  and  woman  hailed  a  ship  and  got 
ashore,  but  they'll  never  cross  my  path  again." 

Markel,  when  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  had 
asked  Miss  Martha  Holton  for  her  hand.  She  re- 
fused him  and  married  R.  E.  Darrington  a  month 
after.  Mr.  Darrington 's  only  relative  was  a  rich 
uncle,  who  died,  leaving  the  property  to  his  nephew. 
One  night  on  their  way  home  from  the  theater  the 
S.  S.,  meaning  the  Secret  Six,  had  captured  the 
whole  family — the  father,  mother  and  their  year 
old  boy.  The  father  and  mother  had  been  taken 
to  a  desolate  island,  about  four  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast,  given  a  good  supply  of  ammunition,  some 
provisions  and  other  necessities  and  the  boat 
sailed  away,  leaving  them  alone.  The  island  had 
an  abundance  of  wild  game  and  fruit.  Nothing  had 


BOB  119 

been  heard  from  them  since.  The  boy,  Robert,  had 
been  taken  to  the  Baltimore  Poorhouse,  which  the 
Harson  Brothers,  of  the  Secret  Six,  superintended. 
When  the  Harson  Brothers  resigned  he  was  turned 
out.  Let  us  now  return  to  our  hero  and  his  friends. 


CHAPTER  III. 
The  Storm. 

Saturday  morning  at  ten  o'clock  our  four  friends 
met  at  the  small  restaurant.  They  had  just  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-two  Dollars  among  them. 
Each  of  the  boys  had  put  in  Ten  Dollars  and  Jose 
and  Billy  had  sold  an  extra  lantern  and  anchor 
from  their  sloop,  Pearl. 

Monday  dawned  cloudy  and  Jose  said  he  thought 
he  smelled  a  storm  brewing.  As  soon  as  they  were 
under  way  they  got  out  the  diving  apparatus  and 
Billy  said  he  would  go  down  first.  The  boat  made 
good  headway  down  the  bay  and  by  seven  o'clock 
all  was  ready.  Billy  put  on  the  diver's  suit,  ar- 
ranged the  pumps  and  went  down.  Up  again  and 
down  again  he  went.  All  the  time  the  sky  was  get- 
ting black.  They  had  secured  about  a  tub  full  of 
oysters  when  a  boat  appeared  around  the  point; 
in  it  were  Dan  Markel  and  the  Harson  Borthers. 


120  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


Just  then  the  storm  broke,  blowing  each  boat  south- 
ward rapidly.  Suddenly  the  two  boats  crashed 
together  and  stove  a  hole  in  the  Harson  boat,  the 
lighter  of  the  two. 

"You  get  out  of  this — what  are  you  trying  to 
do?"  roared  Dan  Markel,  drawing  a  pistol  out  of 
his  hip  pocket  and  aiming  it  at  Jose,  who  was 
steering.  Quick  as  a  tiger  Jose  made  a  magnificent 
leap  into  the  other  boat  before  Markel  could  fire, 
and  wrenching  the  pistol  from  his  hand,  gave  him  a 
crushing  blow  which  knocked  him  over.  He  then 
calmly  climbed  into  his  own  boat  as  Billy  steered 
it  alongside. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
A  Great  Find. 

The  storm  raged  for  two  days.  The  first  day  out 
the  oysters  were  examined  and  one  pearl  was  found 
— an  inferior  one  worth,  perhaps,  Fifteen  Dollars. 
All  the  next  day  they  were  out  in  the  storm.  It 
had  changed  its  course  and  was  coming  from  the 
west  driving  the  Pearl  due  eastward.  About  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening  Bob  shouted,  "Land!"  Off 
to  the  eastward  was  an  island  about  ninety  miles 
wide  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long.  On  it 


BOB  121 

were  many  trees  and  much  vegetation.     The  south 
end  was  nearly  barren  and  the  trees  were  all  stunted. 

"I  wonder  what  caused  that?"  said  Bob.  "I  don't 
know,  unless  it  is  too  rocky  down  there  for  vegeta- 
tion to  grow,"  answered  Billy. 

That  night  the  Pearl  dropped  anchor  in  a  small 
bay  on  the  west  shore.  The  next  morning  all  were 
up  early  and  going  ashore,  divided  to  search  for 
game  or  fruit,  Billy  and  Bob  going  south  and  west, 
while  Jerry  and  Jose  went  north  and  east. 

Toward  noon  Bob  and  his  companion  ate  their 
lunch,  and  seeing  a  stream  close  by,  went  down  to 
get  a  drink.  The  water  proved  to  be  dirty  and 
black.  " Tastes  like  petroleum,"  said  Bob.  " Let's 
follow  it  and  see  where  its  source  is." 

Following  the  stream  for  about  two  hundred  rods 
they  came  upon  an  oil  spring.  As  they  stood  looking 
at  the  spring,  they  heard  a  noise  behind  them,  and 
turning  they  saw  a  man  with  long  beard  and  long 
hair,  scantily  dressed  in  ragged  clothes. 

Now  let  us  return  to  Jerry  and  his  companion. 
They  had  walked  about  three  miles  when  they  came 
upon  a  hut  built  of  rude  logs.  In  it  was  a  woman. 
She  looked  startled  when  they  spoke  to  her,  and 
uttered  a  cry  of  alarm. 


122  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

"Who  are  you,"  she  cried.  "We  are  oyster  fish- 
ermen and  we  drifted  in  a  storm  to  this  island.  Do 
you  live  here  alone?"  "No,  my  husband  is  here 
with  me.  About  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago  some 
rascals  took  our  only  son  away  from  us  and  put  us 
on  this  awful  island.  Oh,  please  take  us  back — 
please  do!"  she  wailed. 

"We'll  try  to,"  said  Jose.  As  he  said  this  he 
turned  and  saw  coming  up  the  path  three  men  who 
had  not  yet  observed  them. 

To  return  to  Billy  and  Bob— "Well!"  the  man 
finally  broke  the  silence,  "Who  are  you?"  "We 
are  oyster  fishermen  and  got  caught  in  a  storm  and 
landed  here."  Billy  was  standing  near  the  bank 
and  as  he  said  this,  his  footing  gave  way  and  he 
fell  into  the  stream  of  oil  and  water.  He  tried  to 
swim  but  it  was  too  thick. 

' '  Help ! "  he  shouted,  ' '  Help  me,  Bob ! "  "  Here, '  ' 
said  Bob,  "Mr.  Man,  I'll  get  down  and  lean  over 
and  when  Billy  comes  up  you  take  hold  of  my  feet 
and  we'll  try  and  pull  him  up." 

"All  right,"  responded  the  man. 

"When  Billy  came  up  the  second  time,  he  was 
about  two  paces  from  Bob.  "Give  me  your  hand, 
Billy,"  shouted  Bob,  for  Billy  was  almost  drowned. 


BOB  123 

Billy  feebly  reached  up  his  hands,  Bob  and  the 
man  pulled  simultaneously,  and  drew  Billy  out  of 
the  spring. 

"Come  up  to  my  cabin,"  said  the  man,  "I  have 
a  wife  there.  But  what  are  your  names?"  "Billy 
Melvin  and  Robert — he  hasn't  any  other  name." 
"Ah,  I  used  to  have  a  son  named  Robert,  but  some 
men  took  him  from  us  and  put  us  on  this  island; 
but  that  is  another  story." 

"Here  we  are,  but  what  is  this  row  about?"  said 
the  man,  as  he,  Billy  and  Bob  came  in  sight  of  the 
cabin  in  a  large  clearing  in  the  forest.  There  stood 
Markel  and  the  Harson  Brothers.  The  Harsons  each 
had  a  pistol  and  Markel  a  knife,  and  they  had  Jose 
and  Jerry  covered.  They  had  not  yet  seen  our 
friends  approaching  through  the  forest.  Billy  and 
Bob  each  had  a  revolver  and  the  man  a  large,  sharp 
butcher  knife.  They  stole  up  behind,  Billy  and 
Bob  covering  the  Harsons,  while  the  man  had  his 
knife  within  reach  of  Markel. 

"Ha,  you  scoundrel;  Tell  me  where  my  son  is 
or  I  will  kill  you!"  "He  is  here  before  you," 
answered  Markel,  turning  pale  and  his  voice  trem- 
bling. "I  will  soon  see  if  you  lie — which  one?" 

Markel  pointed  to  Bob.     Going  over  to  him,  the 


124  GOOD'S  BUDGET 


man  unbuttoned  his  shirt.  There  in  small  letters 
were  these  words,  "B.  D.,  Baltimore,  Md." 

There  was  great  rejoicing  and  the  happy  parents 
were  soon  ready  to  return  with  Bob  and  his  friends. 
The  Harsons  and  Dan  Markel  were  put  on  board  the 
Pearl  and  their  boat  was  towed,  and  thus  the  whole 
party  returned  to  Baltimore,  and  the  guilty  trio 
were  turned  over  to  the  authorities.  The  trial  came 
off  two  weeks  later  and  Bob's  father,  Mr.  Dar- 
rington,  got  back  his  fortune.  Dan  Markel  was 
given  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary  and  the  Harson 
Brothers  each  five. 

Billy  and  Robert,  now  Bob  Darrington,  did  not 
forget  Black  Rock  Cove  and  the  oil  spring  on  Dandy 
Island.  Two  weeks  later,  with  Jerry  and  Jose,  they 
again  went  fishing  in  Black  Rock  Cove.  This  they 
continued  doing  till  the  oysters  got  scarce.  Then 
Mr.  Darrington  put  up  some  money  and  the  four 
formed  an  Oil  and  Pearl  Company. 


Conclusion. 

If  you  should  go  down  the  main  street  in  Baltimore 
today,  you  would  see  a  large  sign  reading: 
DARRINGTON  &  COLE 
OIL  MERCHANTS. 


THE  PRIZE  FIGHTER 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  First  Fight. 

The  Kid  sold  papers  down  by  the  corner  of  Fin- 
negan's  saloon.  One  morning  a  red-headed  newsboy 
came  and  told  him  that  Abe  Iverstein,  the  Jew,  had 
made  his  brother  cry  by  a  rap  on  the  ear.  "I'll 
find  dat  guy  and  fix  him!"  he  shouted.  His  backers 
and  Abe's  went  behind  Finnegan's  saloon  and  Fin- 
negan  himself  came  out.  Finnegan  had  been  a  third- 
rate  pugilist  some  years  back  and  he  attended  all 
the  fights  over  at  the  Club. 

All  the  kids  in  the  neighborhood  came  to  see  it — 
the  kid  and  Abe  had  long  been  rivals.  Finnegan, 
after  much  coaxing,  finally  agreed  to  referee.  They 
did  not  shake  hands  and  agreed  on  a  finish  fight — 
no  rest  till  one  or  the  other  quit. 

For  about  five  minutes  they  watched  each  other 
like  cats.  Abe  was  plainly  scared.  He  was  a  good 
boxer  and  Finnegan  knew  it.  That  was  some  help, 
but  as  he  glanced  at  his  own  thin  arms  and  then 


126  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

at  the  Kid's  strong  ones,  he  had  some  misgivings 
as  to  the  outcome. 

The  Kid  started  and — in  the  language  of  the 
street — he  put  both  of  Abe's  lamps  out  and  had  the 
claret  coming  from  his  opponent's  mouth  and  nose. 
He  knocked  Abe  down  five  times,  then  Abey  quit. 
Finnegan  gave  the  victory  to  the  Kid.  They  shook 
hands  and  the  fight  was  over. 

The  next  day  it  became  known  that  Finnegan  was 
going  to  train  the  Kid,  who  was  to  challenge  the 
winner  of  the  fight  at  the  club  next  month. 


CHAPTER  II. 
His  Ring  Debut. 

The  fight  came  off.  There  was  a  tall,  red-headed 
individual  standing  in  the  lighted  ring  beside  the 
Featherweight  of  East  St.  Louis.  He  meets  five 
picked  men  of  this  city.  If  any  one  of  the  five 
whips  him,  the  winner  gets  $20  and  the  champion- 
ship, provided  he  fights  the  remaining  men  to  defend 
his  title.  With  this  he  jumped  through  the  ring 
and  was  cheered. 

The  first  man  walked  into  the  ring  and  was  put 
to  sleep  by  one  punch.  The  next  man  was  the  Kid. 
They  took  him  into  the  dressing  room  and  dressed 


THE  PRIZE  FIGHTER  127 

him  in  a  pair  of  green  tights  and  an  old  coat,  and 
Kid  Collins  walked  into  the  ring. 

"Next  victim,  Chimmy!"  yelled  a  gallery  patron. 
He  stood  in  the  corner  of  the  roped  ring  and  the 
lights  and  the  crowd  dazed  him.  He  walked  for- 
but  he  knew  all  the  best  professionals.  He  got  a 
job  at  a  vaudeville  theater  in  St.  Louis  at  $50  a  week. 

He  next  got  a  match  with  one  Billy  Ryan,  the 
Champion  of  the  Central  States.  The  fight  was  for 
ward,  shook  hands,  and  the  second  fight  in  the  Kid's 
career  had  begun.  They  maneuvered  a  moment, 
then  something  hit  him  in  the  nose.  He  was  knocked 
down  and  a  man  was  bending  over  him.  He  heard 
him  say,  " Seven/' — he  looked  at  Finnegan  who 
#as  saying,  *  *  Get  up !  Get  up ! "  He  did  get  up  and 
now  he  was  mad.  "He  would  fix  that  red-headed 
slob ! "  He  had  got  on  his  feet  just  at  nine,  and 
now  he  was  fighting  like  a  tiger.  He  was  covered 
with  blood,  but  what  did  he  care?  Was  not  his 
little  brother  without  a  hat  and  shoes  and  coat? 
He  needed  the  $20  and  he'd  have  it.  He  whipped 
the  red-headed  Champion  and  two  more;  the  other 
one  backed  out.  They  lifted  the  Kid  to  their 
shoulders  and  carried  him  to  the  dressing  room. 


128  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

CHAPTER  III. 
He  Wins  All  the  Way. 

The  Kid  and  his  manager,  Finnegan,  went  to  Jef- 
ferson City  to  get  a  match  with  Dan  Creedon,  the 
Champion  of  Missouri.  It  was  arranged  and  this 
time  the  Kid  was  to  get  $300,  win,  lose  or  draw. 
He  was  now  a  professional  Prize  Fighter. 

He  beat  Creedon,  then  went  to  St.  Louis.  He  was 
becoming  popular  now — of  course  he  was  still  poor, 
twenty-five  rounds.  The  Kid  beat  Ryan,  and  then 
fought  Pat  O'Hara.  He  now  had  about  $1000  in 
the  bank.  He  sent  $5  a  week  to  Mrs.  Flannagan, 
a  washerwoman  in  East  St.  Louis,  who  had  been 
kind  to  him  when  he  was  a  newsboy,  and  he  began 
to  indulge  in  wine  suppers  every  night. 

Pat  O'Hara  was  a  'has  been',  and  the  Kid  just 
barely  won.  Finnegan  noticed  this  and  spoke  to  him 
about  it.  The  Kid  only  laughed.  He  sat  up  late 
nights  and  continued  to  indulge  in  wine  suppers 
while  training  for  a  fight,  and  after  losing  a  couple 
of  battles,  he  and  his  manager  went  to  the  moun- 
tains for  a  month.  When  he  returned  he  went  to 
New  York  and  challenged  the  Champion  Bantam- 
weight of  America,  one  Frankie  Sullivan,  of 
Brooklyn. 


THE  PRIZE   FIGHTER  129 

CHAPTER  IV. 
He  Wins  and  Loses. 

The  match  was  an  important  one  for  Kid  Collins 
and  he  knew  it.  As  Champion  Bantamweight  of  the 
Central  States,  he  demanded  a  bonus  of  60  by  30 
of  the  gate  receipts  and  $2000  guaranteed,  and  he 
got  it.  Sullivan  demanded  $3000  and  got  it  as 
Champion  of  America.  The  fight  was  a  fierce  one 
from  start  to  finish.  It  lasted  twenty-two  rounds, 
then  with  a  right  upper  cut  to  the  nose  and  a  clever 
duck  the  Kid  was  victor.  He  had  trained  well  and 
won. 

For  eight  weeks  he  made  $500  a  week  at  a  theater, 
then  began  to  indulge  in  high  living.  His  muscles 
grew  flabby  and  he  neglected  his  training.  He  was 
challenged  by  a  Western  lad.  He  was  to  get  $20,000, 
win,  lose  or  draw.  He  was  not  in  good  condition, 
but  as  he  looked  at  the  well  trimmed  muscles  of  his 
opponent,  he  sneered. 

There  were  thousands  of  dollars  put  up  on  this 
match  and  the  Kid  had  all  he  owned  except  $5  up 
on  it.  In  the  second  round  he  went  down  and  stayed 
down.  The  once  brilliant  career  of  Kid  Collins  was 
at  its  end.  Next  time  he  went  to  Finnegan's  old 


130  GOOD'S    BUDGET 

saloon  and  asked  for  a  beer  on  credit.  He  was  kicked 
out.    Then  he  went  back  to  New  York. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Conclusion, 

Two  old  bachelor  cronies  were  walking  through 
the  graveyard  in  New  York  and  they  came  to  the 
Potter's  Field. 

" There,"  said  one,  "is  where  the  once  famous 
Kid  Collins  lies."  This  was  the  inscription  on  a 
rough  slab : 

Here  lies 

KID  COLLINS 

Once  Champion  Bantamweight  of  America. 


